4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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289 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
290 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
293 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
294 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
295 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
296 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
297 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
298 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
299 License'' in the Emacs manual.
301 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
302 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
303 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
305 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
306 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
307 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
308 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
316 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
318 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
319 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
321 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
322 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
323 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
324 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
325 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
326 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
327 License'' in the Emacs manual.
329 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
330 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
331 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
333 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
334 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
335 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
336 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
342 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
344 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
347 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
348 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
349 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
351 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
352 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
353 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
354 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
355 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
356 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
357 License'' in the Emacs manual.
359 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
360 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
361 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
363 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
364 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
365 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
366 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
375 @top The gnus Newsreader
379 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
380 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
381 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
384 T-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So T-gnus supports
385 your right to read strange messages including big images or other
386 various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
387 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
388 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
389 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
391 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
402 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
403 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
405 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
406 being accused of plagiarism:
408 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
409 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
410 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
411 can even read news with it!
413 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
414 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
415 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
416 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
417 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
423 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
424 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
425 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
426 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
427 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
428 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
429 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
430 * Various:: General purpose settings.
431 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
432 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
433 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
434 * Key Index:: Key Index.
437 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
441 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
442 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
443 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
444 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
445 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
446 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
447 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
448 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
449 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
450 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
451 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
455 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
456 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
457 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
461 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
462 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
463 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
464 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
465 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
466 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
467 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
468 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
469 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
470 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
471 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
472 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
473 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
474 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
475 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
476 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
477 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
481 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
482 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
483 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
487 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
488 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
489 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
490 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
491 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
495 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
496 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
497 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
498 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
499 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
503 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
504 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
505 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
506 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
507 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
509 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
510 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
511 * Threading:: How threads are made.
512 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
513 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
514 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
515 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
516 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
517 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
518 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
519 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
520 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
521 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
522 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
523 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
524 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
525 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
526 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
527 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
528 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
529 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
530 or reselecting the current group.
531 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
532 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
533 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
534 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
536 Summary Buffer Format
538 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
539 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
540 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
541 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
545 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
546 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
548 Reply, Followup and Post
550 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
551 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
552 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
553 * Canceling and Superseding::
557 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
558 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
559 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
561 * Generic Marking Commands::
562 * Setting Process Marks::
566 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
567 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
568 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
572 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
573 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
575 Customizing Threading
577 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
578 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
579 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
580 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
584 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
585 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
586 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
587 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
588 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
589 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
593 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
594 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
595 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
599 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
600 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
601 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
602 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
603 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
604 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
605 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
606 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
608 Alternative Approaches
610 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
611 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
613 Various Summary Stuff
615 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
616 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
617 * Summary Generation Commands::
618 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
622 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
623 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
624 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
625 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
626 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
630 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
631 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
632 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
633 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
634 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
635 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
636 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
637 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
641 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
642 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
643 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
644 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
645 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
646 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
647 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
648 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
652 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
653 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
654 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
655 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
656 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
657 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
658 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
662 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
663 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
667 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
668 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
669 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
673 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
674 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
675 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
676 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
677 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
678 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
679 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
680 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
681 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
682 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
683 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
684 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
685 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
686 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
690 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
691 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
692 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
694 Choosing a Mail Back End
696 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
697 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
698 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
699 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
700 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
701 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
705 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
706 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
707 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
708 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
709 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
710 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
714 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
715 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
716 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
720 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
721 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
722 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
723 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
724 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
728 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
732 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
733 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
734 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
738 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
739 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
743 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
744 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
745 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
746 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
747 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
748 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
749 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
750 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
751 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
752 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
756 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
757 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
758 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
762 * Group Agent Commands::
763 * Summary Agent Commands::
764 * Server Agent Commands::
768 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
769 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
770 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
771 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
772 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
773 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
774 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
775 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
776 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
777 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
778 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
779 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
780 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
781 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
782 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
783 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
784 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
788 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
789 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
790 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
791 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
795 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
796 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
797 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
801 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
802 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
803 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
804 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
805 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
806 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
807 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
808 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
809 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
810 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
811 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
812 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
813 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
814 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
815 * Image Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
816 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
817 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
818 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
822 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
823 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
824 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
825 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
826 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
827 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
828 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
829 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
833 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
834 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
835 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
836 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
840 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
841 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
842 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
843 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
844 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
848 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
849 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
850 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
851 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
852 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
853 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
854 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
858 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
859 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
860 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
861 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
862 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
863 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
864 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
865 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
866 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
870 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
871 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
872 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
873 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
874 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
878 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
879 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
880 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
881 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
885 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
886 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
887 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
888 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
889 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
890 * Group Info:: The group info format.
891 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
892 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
893 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
897 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
898 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
899 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
900 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
901 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
902 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
906 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
907 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
911 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
912 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
918 @chapter Starting gnus
923 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
924 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
927 @findex gnus-other-frame
928 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
929 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
930 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
932 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
933 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
934 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
936 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
937 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
940 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
941 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
942 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
943 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
944 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
945 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
946 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
947 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
948 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
949 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
950 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
954 @node Finding the News
955 @section Finding the News
958 @vindex gnus-select-method
960 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
961 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
962 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
963 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
966 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
967 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
970 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
973 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
976 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
979 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
980 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
981 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
983 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
985 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
986 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
987 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
988 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
989 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
990 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
992 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
993 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
994 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
995 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
997 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
998 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
999 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1000 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1001 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1002 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1003 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1004 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1005 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1008 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1010 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1011 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1012 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1013 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1014 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1015 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1019 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1020 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1021 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1022 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1023 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1024 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1027 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1028 you would typically set this variable to
1031 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1035 @node The First Time
1036 @section The First Time
1037 @cindex first time usage
1039 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1040 be subscribed by default.
1042 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1043 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1044 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1045 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1048 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1049 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1050 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1052 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1053 help you with most common problems.
1055 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1056 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1060 @node The Server is Down
1061 @section The Server is Down
1062 @cindex server errors
1064 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1065 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1066 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1068 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1069 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1070 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1071 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1072 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1073 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1074 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1076 @findex gnus-no-server
1077 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1079 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1080 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1081 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1082 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1083 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1084 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1085 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1089 @section Slave Gnusae
1092 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1093 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1094 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1095 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1097 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1098 @code{.newsrc} file.
1100 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1101 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1102 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1103 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1104 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1105 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1106 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1108 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1109 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1110 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1111 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1112 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1113 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1114 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1115 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1117 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1118 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1121 @node Fetching a Group
1122 @section Fetching a Group
1123 @cindex fetching a group
1125 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1126 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1127 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1128 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1129 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1130 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1136 @cindex subscription
1138 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1139 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1140 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1141 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1142 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1143 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1144 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1145 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1146 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1149 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1150 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1151 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1155 @node Checking New Groups
1156 @subsection Checking New Groups
1158 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1159 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1160 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1161 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1162 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1163 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1164 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1165 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1166 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1167 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1169 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1170 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1171 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1172 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1173 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1174 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1175 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1176 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1177 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1178 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1179 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1181 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1182 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1183 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1184 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1185 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1186 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1189 @node Subscription Methods
1190 @subsection Subscription Methods
1192 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1193 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1194 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1196 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1197 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1199 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1203 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1205 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1206 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1207 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1209 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1211 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1212 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1214 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1215 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1216 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1218 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1219 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1220 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1221 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1222 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1223 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1224 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1225 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1226 up. Or something like that.
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1230 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1231 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1232 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1236 Kill all new groups.
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1240 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1241 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1242 topic parameter that looks like
1248 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1251 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1257 A closely related variable is
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1259 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1260 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1261 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1264 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1265 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1267 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1270 @node Filtering New Groups
1271 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1273 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1274 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1275 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1278 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1282 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1283 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1284 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1285 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1286 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1287 subscribing these groups.
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1289 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1291 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1292 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1293 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1294 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1295 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1296 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1297 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1298 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1300 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1301 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1302 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1303 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1304 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1305 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1306 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1307 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1308 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1309 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1311 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1312 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1315 @node Changing Servers
1316 @section Changing Servers
1317 @cindex changing servers
1319 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1320 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1321 very flaky and you want to use another.
1323 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1324 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1328 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1329 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1330 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1331 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1334 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1335 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1336 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1337 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1339 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1340 @findex gnus-change-server
1341 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1342 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1343 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1344 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1345 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1348 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1349 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1350 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1351 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1353 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1354 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1356 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1358 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1360 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1361 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1362 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1366 @section Startup Files
1367 @cindex startup files
1372 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1373 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1375 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1376 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1377 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1378 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1379 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1380 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1381 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1383 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1384 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1385 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1386 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1387 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1388 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1390 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1391 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1392 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1393 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1394 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1395 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1396 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1397 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1398 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1399 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1402 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1403 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1404 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1405 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1406 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1407 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1408 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1409 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1410 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1411 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1412 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1414 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1415 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1416 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1417 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1419 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1420 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1421 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1422 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1423 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1424 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1425 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1426 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1427 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1428 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1431 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1432 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1434 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1435 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1438 @vindex gnus-init-file
1439 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1440 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1441 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1442 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1443 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1444 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1445 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1446 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1447 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1453 @cindex dribble file
1456 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1457 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1458 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1459 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1460 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1463 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1464 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1467 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1468 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1469 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1471 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1472 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1473 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1474 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1475 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1476 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1478 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1479 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1480 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1483 @node The Active File
1484 @section The Active File
1486 @cindex ignored groups
1488 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1489 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1490 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1492 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1493 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1494 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1495 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1496 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1497 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1498 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1501 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1502 @c if you set it to anything else.
1504 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1506 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1507 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1508 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1510 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1511 you actually subscribe to.
1513 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1514 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1515 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1516 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1518 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1519 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1520 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1521 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1522 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1523 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1525 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1526 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1527 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1530 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1531 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1532 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1533 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1534 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1535 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1537 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1538 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1540 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1541 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1543 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1544 secondary select methods.
1547 @node Startup Variables
1548 @section Startup Variables
1552 @item gnus-load-hook
1553 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1554 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1555 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1556 times you start gnus.
1558 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1559 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1560 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1562 @item gnus-startup-hook
1563 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1564 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1566 @item gnus-started-hook
1567 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1568 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1571 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1572 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1573 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1574 generating the group buffer.
1576 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1577 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1578 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1579 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1580 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1581 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1582 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1583 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1585 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1586 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1587 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1588 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1589 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1590 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1592 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1593 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1594 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1596 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1597 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1598 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1600 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1602 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1603 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1609 @chapter Group Buffer
1610 @cindex group buffer
1612 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1614 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1615 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1616 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1617 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1618 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1619 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1620 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1621 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1622 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1623 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1624 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1625 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1626 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1627 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1628 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1629 @c human rights at 9...
1632 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1633 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1634 long as gnus is active.
1638 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1639 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1640 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1641 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1642 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1643 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1644 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1645 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1651 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1652 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1653 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1654 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1655 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1656 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1657 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1658 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1659 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1660 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1661 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1662 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1663 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1664 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1665 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1666 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1667 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1671 @node Group Buffer Format
1672 @section Group Buffer Format
1675 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1676 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1677 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1681 @node Group Line Specification
1682 @subsection Group Line Specification
1683 @cindex group buffer format
1685 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1686 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1688 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1691 25: news.announce.newusers
1692 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1697 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1698 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1699 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1700 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1702 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1703 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1704 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1705 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1706 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1707 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1709 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1711 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1712 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1713 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1714 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1715 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1717 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1718 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1719 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1721 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1726 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1729 Whether the group is subscribed.
1732 Level of subscribedness.
1735 Number of unread articles.
1738 Number of dormant articles.
1741 Number of ticked articles.
1744 Number of read articles.
1747 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1748 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1750 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1751 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1752 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1753 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1754 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1755 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1756 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1757 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1760 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1772 Newsgroup description.
1775 @samp{m} if moderated.
1778 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1787 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1791 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1794 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1795 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1796 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1797 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1798 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1801 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1803 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1807 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1810 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1814 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1815 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1816 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1817 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1818 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1819 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1824 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1825 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1826 group, or a bogus native group.
1829 @node Group Modeline Specification
1830 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1831 @cindex group modeline
1833 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1834 The mode line can be changed by setting
1835 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1836 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1840 The native news server.
1842 The native select method.
1846 @node Group Highlighting
1847 @subsection Group Highlighting
1848 @cindex highlighting
1849 @cindex group highlighting
1851 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1852 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1853 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1854 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1855 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1857 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1861 (cond (window-system
1862 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1863 (defface my-group-face-1
1864 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1865 (defface my-group-face-2
1866 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1867 (defface my-group-face-3
1868 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1869 (defface my-group-face-4
1870 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1871 (defface my-group-face-5
1872 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1874 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1875 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1876 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1877 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1878 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1879 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1882 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1884 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1891 The number of unread articles in the group.
1895 Whether the group is a mail group.
1897 The level of the group.
1899 The score of the group.
1901 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1903 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1904 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1906 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1907 topic being inserted.
1910 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1911 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1912 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1914 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1915 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1916 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1917 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1918 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1921 @node Group Maneuvering
1922 @section Group Maneuvering
1923 @cindex group movement
1925 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1926 expected, hopefully.
1932 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1933 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1934 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1940 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1941 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1942 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1946 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1947 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1951 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1952 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1956 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1957 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1962 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1963 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1964 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1967 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1973 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1974 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1975 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1980 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1981 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1982 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1986 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1987 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1991 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1992 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1993 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1994 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1998 @node Selecting a Group
1999 @section Selecting a Group
2000 @cindex group selection
2005 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2006 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2007 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2008 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2009 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2010 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2011 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2012 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2013 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2014 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2016 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2017 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2018 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2020 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2021 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2026 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2027 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2028 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2029 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2030 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2034 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2035 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2036 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2037 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2038 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2039 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2040 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2041 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2042 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2043 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2046 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2047 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2048 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2049 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2050 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2053 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2055 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2056 doing any processing of its contents
2057 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2058 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2059 manner will have no permanent effects.
2063 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2064 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2065 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2066 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2067 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2068 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2069 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2070 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2073 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2074 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2075 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2076 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2077 Which article this is is controlled by the
2078 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2084 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2087 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2090 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2093 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2097 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2098 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2100 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2101 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2102 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2103 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2107 @node Subscription Commands
2108 @section Subscription Commands
2109 @cindex subscription
2117 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2118 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2119 Toggle subscription to the current group
2120 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2126 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2127 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2128 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2129 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2135 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2136 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2137 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2143 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2144 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2147 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2148 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2149 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2150 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2151 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2157 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2158 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2162 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2163 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2166 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2167 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2168 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2169 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2170 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2171 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2172 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2173 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2174 @file{.newsrc} file.
2178 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2188 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2189 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2191 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2192 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2193 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2198 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2199 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2200 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2204 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2205 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2206 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2208 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2209 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2210 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2211 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2212 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2213 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2220 @section Group Levels
2224 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2225 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2226 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2227 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2228 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2230 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2236 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2237 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2238 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2239 prompted for a level.
2242 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2243 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2244 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2245 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2246 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2247 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2248 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2249 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2250 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2251 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2252 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2253 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2254 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2255 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2256 reasons of efficiency.
2258 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2259 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2261 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2262 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2263 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2264 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2265 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2266 groups are hidden, in a way.
2268 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2269 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2270 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2271 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2272 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2273 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2275 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2276 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2277 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2278 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2279 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2280 list of killed groups.)
2282 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2283 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2284 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2286 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2287 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2288 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2289 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2290 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2291 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2292 relevant valid ranges.
2294 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2295 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2296 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2297 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2298 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2299 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2302 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2303 one with the best level.
2305 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2306 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2307 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2310 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2311 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2312 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2313 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2316 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2317 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2318 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2319 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2321 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2322 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2323 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2324 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2325 to 5. The default is 6.
2329 @section Group Score
2334 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2335 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2336 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2339 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2340 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2341 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2342 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2343 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2344 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2345 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2346 least significant part.))
2348 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2349 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2350 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2351 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2352 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2353 action after each summary exit, you can add
2354 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2355 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2356 slow things down somewhat.
2359 @node Marking Groups
2360 @section Marking Groups
2361 @cindex marking groups
2363 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2364 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2365 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2366 bidding on those groups.
2368 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2369 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2370 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2378 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2379 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2385 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2386 Remove the mark from the current group
2387 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2391 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2392 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2396 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2397 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2401 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2402 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2406 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2407 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2408 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2411 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2413 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2414 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2415 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2416 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2417 the command to be executed.
2420 @node Foreign Groups
2421 @section Foreign Groups
2422 @cindex foreign groups
2424 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2425 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2426 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2427 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2434 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2435 @cindex making groups
2436 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2437 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2438 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2442 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2443 @cindex renaming groups
2444 Rename the current group to something else
2445 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2446 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2452 @findex gnus-group-customize
2453 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2458 @cindex renaming groups
2459 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2460 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2464 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2465 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2466 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2470 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2471 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2472 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2476 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2478 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2479 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2485 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2489 @cindex (ding) archive
2490 @cindex archive group
2491 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2492 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2493 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2494 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2495 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2496 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2497 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2501 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2503 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2504 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2505 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2506 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2510 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2512 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2513 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2514 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2518 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2519 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2521 Make a group based on some file or other
2522 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2523 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2524 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2525 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2526 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2527 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2528 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2529 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2530 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2534 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2536 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2537 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2541 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2546 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2547 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2548 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2549 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2550 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2551 @xref{Web Searches}.
2553 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2554 to a particular group by using a match string like
2555 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2558 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2559 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2560 This function will delete the current group
2561 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2562 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2563 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2564 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2565 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2569 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2570 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2571 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2575 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2576 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2577 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2580 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2583 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2584 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2585 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2586 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2587 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2588 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2592 @node Group Parameters
2593 @section Group Parameters
2594 @cindex group parameters
2596 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2597 Here's an example group parameter list:
2600 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2604 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2605 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2606 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2607 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2609 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2610 is an alist of regexps and values.
2612 The following group parameters can be used:
2617 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2620 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2623 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2624 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2625 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2626 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2627 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2629 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2630 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2631 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2632 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2633 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2634 list address instead.
2636 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2640 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2643 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2646 It is totally ignored
2647 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2648 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2650 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2651 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2652 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2653 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2654 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2656 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2657 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2658 sending the message.
2660 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2661 @cindex Mail List Groups
2662 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2663 entering summary buffer.
2665 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2669 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2670 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2671 of whether it has any unread articles.
2673 @item broken-reply-to
2674 @cindex broken-reply-to
2675 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2676 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2677 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2678 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2679 broken behavior. So there!
2683 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2684 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2688 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2689 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2690 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2695 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2696 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2697 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2698 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2699 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2700 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2701 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2705 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2706 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2707 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2709 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2712 @cindex total-expire
2713 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2714 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2715 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2716 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2719 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2723 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2724 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2725 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2726 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2727 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2728 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2731 @cindex score file group parameter
2732 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2733 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2734 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2737 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2738 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2739 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2740 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2743 @cindex admin-address
2744 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2745 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2746 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2747 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2751 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2752 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2756 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2759 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2760 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2763 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2767 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2769 Here are some examples:
2773 Display only read articles.
2776 Display everything except expirable articles.
2778 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2779 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2783 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2784 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2785 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2786 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2787 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2791 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2792 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2793 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2797 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2798 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2799 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2804 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2805 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2806 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2808 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2810 @item ignored-charsets
2811 @cindex ignored-charset
2812 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2813 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2814 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2816 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2819 @cindex posting-style
2820 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2821 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2822 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2823 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2824 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2826 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2827 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2828 like this in the group parameters:
2833 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2838 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2839 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2843 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2844 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2845 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2846 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2847 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2851 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2852 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2853 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2854 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2856 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2857 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2858 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2859 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2862 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2863 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2867 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2870 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2871 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2872 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2873 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2874 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2875 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2876 @code{eval}ed there.
2878 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2879 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2880 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2881 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2882 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2886 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2887 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2888 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2889 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2890 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2892 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2893 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2897 (setq gnus-parameters
2899 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2900 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2901 (gnus-summary-line-format
2902 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2906 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2910 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2914 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2917 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2918 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2921 @node Listing Groups
2922 @section Listing Groups
2923 @cindex group listing
2925 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2933 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2934 List all groups that have unread articles
2935 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2936 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2937 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2938 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2945 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2946 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2947 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2948 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2949 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2950 unsubscribed groups).
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2955 List all unread groups on a specific level
2956 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2957 with no unread articles.
2961 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2962 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2963 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2964 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2969 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2970 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2974 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2975 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2976 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2980 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2981 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2985 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2986 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2987 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2988 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2989 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2990 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2991 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2992 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2996 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2997 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2998 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3002 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3003 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3004 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3008 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3009 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3014 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3018 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3019 List groups limited within the current selection
3020 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3024 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3025 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3029 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3030 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3034 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3035 @cindex visible group parameter
3036 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3037 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3038 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3039 get the same effect.
3041 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3042 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3043 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3044 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3045 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3048 @node Sorting Groups
3049 @section Sorting Groups
3050 @cindex sorting groups
3052 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3053 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3054 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3055 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3056 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3057 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3062 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3063 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3064 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3066 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3067 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3068 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3070 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3071 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3072 Sort by group level.
3074 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3075 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3076 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3078 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3079 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3080 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3081 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3083 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3084 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3085 Sort by number of unread articles.
3087 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3088 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3089 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3091 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3092 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3093 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3098 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3099 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3103 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3104 some sorting criteria:
3108 @kindex G S a (Group)
3109 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3110 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3111 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3114 @kindex G S u (Group)
3115 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3116 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3117 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3120 @kindex G S l (Group)
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3122 Sort the group buffer by group level
3123 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3126 @kindex G S v (Group)
3127 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3128 Sort the group buffer by group score
3129 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3132 @kindex G S r (Group)
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3134 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3135 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3138 @kindex G S m (Group)
3139 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3140 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3141 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3145 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3146 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3148 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3149 commands will sort in reverse order.
3151 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3155 @kindex G P a (Group)
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3157 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3158 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3161 @kindex G P u (Group)
3162 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3163 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3164 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3167 @kindex G P l (Group)
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3169 Sort the groups by group level
3170 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3173 @kindex G P v (Group)
3174 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3175 Sort the groups by group score
3176 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3179 @kindex G P r (Group)
3180 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3181 Sort the groups by group rank
3182 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3185 @kindex G P m (Group)
3186 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3187 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3188 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3192 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3196 @node Group Maintenance
3197 @section Group Maintenance
3198 @cindex bogus groups
3203 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3204 Find bogus groups and delete them
3205 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3209 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3210 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3211 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3212 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3213 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3217 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3218 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3219 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3220 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3221 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3222 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3225 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3227 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3228 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3233 @node Browse Foreign Server
3234 @section Browse Foreign Server
3235 @cindex foreign servers
3236 @cindex browsing servers
3241 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3242 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3243 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3244 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3247 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3248 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3249 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3250 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3252 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3257 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3258 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3262 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3263 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3266 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3267 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3268 Enter the current group and display the first article
3269 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3272 @kindex RET (Browse)
3273 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3274 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3278 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3279 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3280 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3286 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3287 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3291 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3292 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3293 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3298 @section Exiting gnus
3299 @cindex exiting gnus
3301 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3306 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3307 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3308 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3309 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3313 @findex gnus-group-exit
3314 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3315 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-quit
3320 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3321 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3324 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3325 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3326 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3327 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3328 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3333 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3334 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3335 trying to customize meta-variables.
3340 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3341 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3342 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3348 @section Group Topics
3351 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3352 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3353 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3354 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3355 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3356 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3360 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3361 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3372 2: alt.religion.emacs
3375 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3377 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3378 13: comp.sources.unix
3381 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3383 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3384 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3385 is a toggling command.)
3387 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3388 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3389 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3390 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3393 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3394 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3395 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3398 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3402 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3403 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3404 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3405 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3406 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3410 @node Topic Commands
3411 @subsection Topic Commands
3412 @cindex topic commands
3414 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3415 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3416 definitions slightly.
3418 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3419 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3420 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3421 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3422 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3423 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3425 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3432 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3433 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3434 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3438 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3440 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3441 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3442 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3443 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3446 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3447 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3448 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3449 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3453 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3454 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3455 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3456 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3462 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3463 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3464 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3468 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3469 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3470 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3473 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3474 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3475 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3476 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3477 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3479 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3480 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3484 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3485 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3492 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3494 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3495 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3496 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3497 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3498 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3499 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3503 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3509 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3510 Move the current group to some other topic
3511 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3512 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3516 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3517 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3521 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3522 Copy the current group to some other topic
3523 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3524 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3528 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3529 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3530 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3534 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3535 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3536 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3540 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3541 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3542 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3543 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3544 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3545 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3546 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3549 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3550 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3554 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3555 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3556 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3560 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3561 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3562 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3566 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3567 Toggle hiding empty topics
3568 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3572 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3573 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3574 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3577 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3578 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3579 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3583 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3584 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3585 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3586 expiry process (if any)
3587 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3591 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3592 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3595 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3596 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3597 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3601 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3602 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3603 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3607 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3608 @cindex group parameters
3609 @cindex topic parameters
3611 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3612 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3617 @node Topic Variables
3618 @subsection Topic Variables
3619 @cindex topic variables
3621 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3622 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3624 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3625 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3626 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3639 Number of groups in the topic.
3641 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3643 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3646 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3647 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3648 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3651 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3652 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3654 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3655 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3656 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3660 @subsection Topic Sorting
3661 @cindex topic sorting
3663 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3669 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3670 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3671 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3672 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3675 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3676 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3677 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3678 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3681 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3682 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3683 Sort the current topic by group level
3684 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3687 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3688 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3689 Sort the current topic by group score
3690 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3693 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3694 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3695 Sort the current topic by group rank
3696 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3699 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3700 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3701 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3702 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3705 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3706 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3707 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3708 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3712 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3715 @node Topic Topology
3716 @subsection Topic Topology
3717 @cindex topic topology
3720 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3726 2: alt.religion.emacs
3729 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3731 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3732 13: comp.sources.unix
3735 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3736 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3737 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3742 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3743 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3747 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3748 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3749 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3750 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3751 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3752 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3754 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3755 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3756 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3759 @node Topic Parameters
3760 @subsection Topic Parameters
3761 @cindex topic parameters
3763 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3764 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3765 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3767 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3772 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3773 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3774 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3777 @item subscribe-level
3778 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3779 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3780 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3784 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3785 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3786 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3787 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3793 2: alt.religion.emacs
3797 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3799 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3800 13: comp.sources.unix
3804 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3805 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3806 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3807 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3808 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3809 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3811 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3812 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3813 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3814 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3815 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3817 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3818 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3819 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3820 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3821 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3822 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3823 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3824 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3827 @node Misc Group Stuff
3828 @section Misc Group Stuff
3831 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3832 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3833 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3834 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3835 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3842 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3843 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3844 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3848 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3849 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3850 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3851 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3852 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3853 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3854 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3858 @findex gnus-group-mail
3859 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3860 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3861 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3862 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3866 @findex gnus-group-news
3867 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3868 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3869 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3871 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3872 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3873 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3874 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3875 for this to work though.
3879 Variables for the group buffer:
3883 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3884 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3885 is called after the group buffer has been
3888 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3889 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3890 is called after the group buffer is
3891 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3894 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3895 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3896 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3897 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3899 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3900 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3901 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3902 whether they are empty or not.
3904 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3905 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3906 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3907 non-ASCII group names.
3911 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3912 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3915 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3916 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3917 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3918 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3919 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3920 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3924 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3925 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3930 @node Scanning New Messages
3931 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3932 @cindex new messages
3933 @cindex scanning new news
3939 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3940 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3941 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3942 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3943 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3944 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3949 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3950 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3951 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3952 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3953 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3954 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3955 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3957 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3958 @cindex activating groups
3960 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3961 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3966 @findex gnus-group-restart
3967 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3968 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3969 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3973 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3974 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3976 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3977 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3981 @node Group Information
3982 @subsection Group Information
3983 @cindex group information
3984 @cindex information on groups
3991 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3992 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3995 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3996 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3997 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3998 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3999 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4000 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4001 for fetching the file.
4003 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4004 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4008 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4010 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4011 @cindex describing groups
4012 @cindex group description
4013 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4014 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4015 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4019 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4020 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4021 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4028 @findex gnus-version
4029 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4033 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4034 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4037 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4040 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4041 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4045 @node Group Timestamp
4046 @subsection Group Timestamp
4048 @cindex group timestamps
4050 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4051 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4052 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4055 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4058 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4060 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4061 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4064 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4065 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4068 This will result in lines looking like:
4071 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4072 0: custom 19961002T012713
4075 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4076 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4080 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4081 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4086 @subsection File Commands
4087 @cindex file commands
4093 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4094 @vindex gnus-init-file
4095 @cindex reading init file
4096 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4097 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4101 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4102 @cindex saving .newsrc
4103 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4104 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4105 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4108 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4109 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4110 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4115 @node Sieve Commands
4116 @subsection Sieve Commands
4117 @cindex group sieve commands
4119 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4120 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4121 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4122 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4123 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4125 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4126 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4127 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4128 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4129 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4130 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4131 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4132 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4133 regenerate the Sieve script.
4135 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4136 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4137 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4138 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4139 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4140 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4141 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4142 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4143 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4144 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4147 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4148 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4153 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4159 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4160 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4161 @cindex generating sieve script
4162 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4163 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4167 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4168 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4169 @cindex updating sieve script
4170 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4171 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4172 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4177 @node Summary Buffer
4178 @chapter Summary Buffer
4179 @cindex summary buffer
4181 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4182 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4184 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4185 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4187 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4190 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4191 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4192 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4193 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4194 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4195 * Delayed Articles::
4196 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4197 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4198 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4199 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4200 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4201 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4202 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4203 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4204 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4205 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4206 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4207 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4208 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4209 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4210 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4211 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4212 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4213 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4214 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4215 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4216 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4217 or reselecting the current group.
4218 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4219 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4220 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4221 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4225 @node Summary Buffer Format
4226 @section Summary Buffer Format
4227 @cindex summary buffer format
4231 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4232 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4233 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4239 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4240 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4241 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4242 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4245 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4246 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4247 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4248 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4249 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4250 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4251 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4252 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4253 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4254 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4255 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4256 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4257 other function instead:
4260 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4261 'mail-extract-address-components)
4264 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4265 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4266 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4267 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4270 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4271 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4273 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4274 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4275 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4276 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4277 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4279 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4280 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4281 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4282 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4283 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4284 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4286 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4288 The following format specification characters and extended format
4289 specification(s) are understood:
4295 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4296 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4298 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4299 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4300 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4302 Full @code{From} header.
4304 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4306 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4307 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4309 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4310 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4311 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4312 may be more thorough.
4314 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4317 Number of lines in the article.
4319 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4320 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4322 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4324 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4327 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4328 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4330 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4331 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4333 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4334 for adopted articles.
4336 One space for each thread level.
4338 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4340 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4343 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4344 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4345 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4348 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4350 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4351 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4352 default level. If the difference between
4353 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4354 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4362 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4364 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4370 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4371 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4373 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4374 article has any children.
4380 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4381 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4383 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4384 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4385 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4386 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4387 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4388 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4391 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4392 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4393 There can only be one such area.
4395 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4396 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4397 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4398 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4399 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4400 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4402 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4403 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4405 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4408 @node To From Newsgroups
4409 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4413 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4414 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4415 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4416 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4417 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4421 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4422 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4423 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4427 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4428 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4431 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4432 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4435 @findex gnus-extra-header
4436 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4437 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4438 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4441 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4445 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4446 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4447 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4448 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4449 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4450 headers are used instead.
4454 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4455 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4456 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4457 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4460 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4461 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4462 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4463 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4465 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4469 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4471 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4472 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4473 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4474 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4478 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4479 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4486 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4487 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4490 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4491 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4493 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4494 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4495 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4496 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4498 Here are the elements you can play with:
4504 Unprefixed group name.
4506 Current article number.
4508 Current article score.
4512 Number of unread articles in this group.
4514 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4517 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4518 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4519 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4520 and no unselected ones.
4522 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4523 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4525 Subject of the current article.
4527 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4529 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4531 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4533 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4535 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4537 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4541 @node Summary Highlighting
4542 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4546 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4547 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4548 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4549 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4550 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4552 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4553 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4554 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4555 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4557 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4558 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4559 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4560 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4562 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4563 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4564 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4565 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4566 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4567 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4570 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4571 ((> score default) . bold))
4573 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4574 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4578 @node Summary Maneuvering
4579 @section Summary Maneuvering
4580 @cindex summary movement
4582 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4583 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4585 None of these commands select articles.
4590 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4591 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4593 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4594 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4598 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4599 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4600 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4601 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4602 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4605 @kindex G g (Summary)
4606 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4607 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4608 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4611 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4612 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4613 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4614 to the group buffer.
4616 Variables related to summary movement:
4620 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4621 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4622 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4623 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4624 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4625 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4626 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4627 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4628 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4629 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4630 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4631 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4632 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4633 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4635 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4636 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4637 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4638 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4639 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4640 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4641 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4643 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4645 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4646 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4647 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4648 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4649 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4651 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4652 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4653 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4654 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4655 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4656 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4657 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4658 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4661 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4662 the given number of lines from the top.
4667 @node Choosing Articles
4668 @section Choosing Articles
4669 @cindex selecting articles
4672 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4673 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4677 @node Choosing Commands
4678 @subsection Choosing Commands
4680 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4681 and they all select and display an article.
4683 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4684 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4688 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4689 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4690 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4691 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4696 @kindex G n (Summary)
4697 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4698 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4699 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4704 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4705 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4706 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4711 @kindex G N (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4713 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4718 @kindex G P (Summary)
4719 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4720 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4723 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4724 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4725 Go to the next article with the same subject
4726 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4729 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4730 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4731 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4732 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4736 @kindex G f (Summary)
4738 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4739 Go to the first unread article
4740 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4744 @kindex G b (Summary)
4746 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4747 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4748 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4749 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4754 @kindex G l (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4756 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4759 @kindex G o (Summary)
4760 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4762 @cindex article history
4763 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4764 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4765 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4766 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4767 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4768 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4773 @kindex G j (Summary)
4774 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4775 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4776 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4781 @node Choosing Variables
4782 @subsection Choosing Variables
4784 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4787 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4788 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4789 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4790 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4791 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4792 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4794 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4795 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4796 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4797 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4799 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4800 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4801 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4802 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4803 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4804 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4805 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4806 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4807 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4808 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4809 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4810 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4811 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4812 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4817 @node Paging the Article
4818 @section Scrolling the Article
4819 @cindex article scrolling
4824 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4825 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4826 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4827 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4828 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4831 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4832 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4833 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4836 @kindex RET (Summary)
4837 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4838 Scroll the current article one line forward
4839 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4842 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4843 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4844 Scroll the current article one line backward
4845 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4849 @kindex A g (Summary)
4851 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4852 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4853 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4854 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4855 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4856 the way it came from the server.
4858 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4859 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4860 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4863 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4868 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4873 @kindex A < (Summary)
4874 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4875 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4876 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4881 @kindex A > (Summary)
4882 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4883 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4887 @kindex A s (Summary)
4889 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4890 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4891 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4895 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4896 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4901 @node Reply Followup and Post
4902 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4905 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4906 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4907 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4908 * Canceling and Superseding::
4912 @node Summary Mail Commands
4913 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4915 @cindex composing mail
4917 Commands for composing a mail message:
4923 @kindex S r (Summary)
4925 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4926 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4928 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4929 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4934 @kindex S R (Summary)
4935 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4936 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4937 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4938 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4939 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4942 @kindex S w (Summary)
4943 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4944 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4945 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4946 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4947 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4950 @kindex S W (Summary)
4951 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4952 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4953 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4954 the process/prefix convention.
4957 @kindex S v (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4959 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4960 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4961 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4962 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4963 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4967 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4968 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4969 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4970 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4971 Forward the current article to some other person
4972 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4973 headers of the forwarded article.
4978 @kindex S m (Summary)
4979 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4980 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4981 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
4982 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
4983 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4988 @kindex S i (Summary)
4989 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
4990 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
4991 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
4992 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4994 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4995 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
4996 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4997 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4998 for this to work though.
5001 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5002 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5003 @cindex bouncing mail
5004 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5005 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5006 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5007 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5008 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5009 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5010 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5011 very well fail, though.
5014 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5015 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5016 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5017 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5018 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5019 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5020 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5021 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5022 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5023 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5025 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5026 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5027 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5028 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5029 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
5031 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5032 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5035 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5036 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5037 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5038 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5039 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5042 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5043 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5044 @cindex crossposting
5045 @cindex excessive crossposting
5046 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5047 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5049 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5050 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5051 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5052 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5053 command understands the process/prefix convention
5054 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5058 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5059 Manual}, for more information.
5062 @node Summary Post Commands
5063 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5065 @cindex composing news
5067 Commands for posting a news article:
5073 @kindex S p (Summary)
5074 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5075 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5076 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5077 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5078 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5083 @kindex S f (Summary)
5084 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5085 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5086 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5090 @kindex S F (Summary)
5092 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5093 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5094 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5095 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5096 process/prefix convention.
5099 @kindex S n (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5101 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5102 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5105 @kindex S N (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5107 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5108 message through mail and include the original message
5109 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5110 the process/prefix convention.
5113 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5115 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5116 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5117 headers of the forwarded article.
5120 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5123 @cindex making digests
5124 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5126 process/prefix convention.
5129 @kindex S u (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5131 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5132 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5133 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5136 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5137 Manual}, for more information.
5140 @node Summary Message Commands
5141 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5145 @kindex S y (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5147 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5148 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5149 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5150 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5155 @node Canceling and Superseding
5156 @subsection Canceling Articles
5157 @cindex canceling articles
5158 @cindex superseding articles
5160 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5161 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5163 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5165 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5167 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5168 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5169 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5170 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5171 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5172 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5174 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5175 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5178 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5179 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5180 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5182 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5183 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5184 your original article.
5186 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5188 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5189 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5190 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5193 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5194 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5195 have posted almost the same article twice.
5197 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5198 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5199 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5200 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5201 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5202 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5203 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5204 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5205 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5206 canceled/superseded.
5208 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5210 @node Delayed Articles
5211 @section Delayed Articles
5212 @cindex delayed sending
5213 @cindex send delayed
5215 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5216 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5217 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5218 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5221 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5224 @findex gnus-delay-article
5225 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5226 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5227 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5228 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5232 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5233 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5234 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5235 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5238 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5239 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5240 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5243 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5244 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5245 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5246 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5247 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5248 that means a time tomorrow.
5251 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5252 couple of variables:
5255 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5256 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5257 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5258 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5260 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5261 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5262 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5263 formats described above.
5265 @item gnus-delay-group
5266 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5267 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5268 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5269 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5271 @item gnus-delay-header
5272 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5273 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5274 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5275 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5278 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5279 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5280 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5281 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5282 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5284 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5285 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5286 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5287 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5288 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5289 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5292 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5293 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5294 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5295 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5296 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5297 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5298 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5299 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5301 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5302 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5303 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5304 forget to set that up :-)
5308 @node Marking Articles
5309 @section Marking Articles
5310 @cindex article marking
5311 @cindex article ticking
5314 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5316 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5317 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5318 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5320 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5323 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5324 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5325 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5329 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5333 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5334 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5335 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5339 @node Unread Articles
5340 @subsection Unread Articles
5342 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5347 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5348 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5350 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5351 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5352 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5353 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5354 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5355 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5356 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5359 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5360 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5362 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5363 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5364 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5365 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5369 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5370 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5372 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5377 @subsection Read Articles
5378 @cindex expirable mark
5380 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5385 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5386 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5387 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5390 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5391 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5394 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5395 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5396 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5399 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5400 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5403 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5404 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5407 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5408 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5411 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5412 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5415 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5416 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5419 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5420 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5423 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5424 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5428 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5429 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5430 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5434 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5435 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5437 One more special mark, though:
5441 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5442 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5444 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5445 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5446 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5447 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5453 @subsection Other Marks
5454 @cindex process mark
5457 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5463 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5464 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5465 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5466 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5467 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5470 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5471 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5472 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5473 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5475 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5476 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5477 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5479 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5480 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5481 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5482 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5485 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5486 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5487 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5490 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5491 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5492 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5493 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5496 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5497 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5498 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5499 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5500 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5503 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5504 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5505 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5508 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5509 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5510 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5511 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5512 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5515 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5516 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5517 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5518 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5519 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5520 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5524 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5525 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5526 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5528 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5529 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5530 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5534 @subsection Setting Marks
5535 @cindex setting marks
5537 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5542 @kindex M c (Summary)
5543 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5544 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5545 @cindex mark as unread
5546 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5547 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5553 @kindex M t (Summary)
5554 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5555 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5556 @xref{Article Caching}.
5561 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5562 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5563 Mark the current article as dormant
5564 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5568 @kindex M d (Summary)
5570 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5571 Mark the current article as read
5572 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5576 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5577 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5578 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5583 @kindex M k (Summary)
5584 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5585 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5586 and then select the next unread article
5587 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5591 @kindex M K (Summary)
5592 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5593 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5594 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5595 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5598 @kindex M C (Summary)
5599 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5600 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5601 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5604 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5605 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5606 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5607 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5610 @kindex M H (Summary)
5611 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5612 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5613 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5616 @kindex M h (Summary)
5617 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5618 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5619 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5622 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5623 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5624 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5625 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5628 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5629 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5630 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5631 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5635 @kindex M e (Summary)
5637 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5638 Mark the current article as expirable
5639 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5642 @kindex M b (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5644 Set a bookmark in the current article
5645 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5648 @kindex M B (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5650 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5651 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5654 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5656 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5657 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5660 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5661 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5662 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5663 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5666 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5668 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5669 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5670 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5673 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5674 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5675 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5676 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5677 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5678 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5679 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5680 The default is @code{t}.
5683 @node Generic Marking Commands
5684 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5686 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5687 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5688 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5689 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5690 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5693 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5694 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5697 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5698 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5699 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5700 to list in this manual.
5702 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5703 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5704 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5705 article, you could say something like:
5708 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5709 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5710 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5716 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5717 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5721 @node Setting Process Marks
5722 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5723 @cindex setting process marks
5730 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5731 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5732 Mark the current article with the process mark
5733 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5734 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5738 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5739 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5740 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5741 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5744 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5745 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5746 Remove the process mark from all articles
5747 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5750 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5751 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5752 Invert the list of process marked articles
5753 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5756 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5757 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5758 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5759 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5762 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5763 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5764 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5765 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5768 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5770 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5773 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5774 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5775 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5776 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5779 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5780 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5781 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5782 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5785 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5786 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5787 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5788 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5791 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5793 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5796 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5798 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5799 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5802 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5803 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5804 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5807 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5809 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5810 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5813 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5814 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5815 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5816 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5819 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5821 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5822 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5825 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5827 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5828 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5832 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5833 set process marks based on article body contents.
5840 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5841 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5842 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5845 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5846 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5847 additional articles.
5853 @kindex / / (Summary)
5854 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5855 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5856 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
5860 @kindex / a (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5862 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5863 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
5867 @kindex / x (Summary)
5868 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5869 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5870 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5871 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
5876 @kindex / u (Summary)
5878 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5879 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5880 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5881 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5882 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5885 @kindex / m (Summary)
5886 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5887 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5888 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5891 @kindex / t (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5893 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5895 articles younger than that number of days.
5898 @kindex / n (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5900 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5901 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5902 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5905 @kindex / w (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5907 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5908 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5912 @kindex / v (Summary)
5913 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5914 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5915 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5918 @kindex / p (Summary)
5919 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5920 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5921 group parameter predicate
5922 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5923 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5927 @kindex M S (Summary)
5928 @kindex / E (Summary)
5929 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5930 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5931 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5934 @kindex / D (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5936 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5940 @kindex / * (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5942 Include all cached articles in the limit
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5946 @kindex / d (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5948 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5949 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5952 @kindex / M (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5954 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5957 @kindex / T (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5959 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5962 @kindex / c (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5964 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5965 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5968 @kindex / C (Summary)
5969 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5970 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5971 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5972 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5975 @kindex / N (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
5977 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
5978 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
5981 @kindex / o (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
5983 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
5984 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
5992 @cindex article threading
5994 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5995 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5996 hierarchical fashion.
5998 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5999 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6000 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6001 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6002 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6003 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6004 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6006 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6010 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6013 A tree-like article structure.
6016 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6019 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6020 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6021 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6022 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6023 called loose threads.
6025 @item thread gathering
6026 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6028 @item sparse threads
6029 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6030 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6036 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6037 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6041 @node Customizing Threading
6042 @subsection Customizing Threading
6043 @cindex customizing threading
6046 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6047 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6048 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6049 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6054 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6057 @cindex loose threads
6060 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6061 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6062 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6063 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6064 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6065 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6067 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6068 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6069 There are four possible values:
6073 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6074 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6075 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6076 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6077 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6082 @cindex adopting articles
6087 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6088 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6089 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6090 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6093 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6094 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6095 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6096 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6097 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6098 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6099 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6102 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6103 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6104 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6108 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6109 display them after one another.
6112 Don't gather loose threads.
6115 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6116 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6117 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6118 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6119 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6120 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6121 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6122 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6123 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6124 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6125 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6127 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6128 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6129 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6132 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6133 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6134 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6135 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6136 simplification is used.
6138 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6139 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6140 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6141 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6143 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6145 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6151 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6152 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6153 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6154 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6159 (mapconcat 'identity
6160 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6162 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6165 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6168 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6169 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6170 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6171 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6172 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6173 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6175 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6178 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6179 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6180 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6182 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6183 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6186 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6187 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6188 Remove excessive whitespace.
6191 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6194 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6195 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6196 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6197 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6198 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6199 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6200 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6201 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6203 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6204 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6205 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6206 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6207 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6208 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6209 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6210 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6211 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6215 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6216 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6217 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6218 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6220 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6221 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6222 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6225 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6229 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6230 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6236 @node Filling In Threads
6237 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6240 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6241 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6242 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6243 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6244 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6245 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6246 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6247 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6248 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6249 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6250 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6251 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
6253 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6254 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6255 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6257 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6258 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6259 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6260 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6261 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6262 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6263 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6264 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6265 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6266 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6267 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6268 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6269 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6270 @code{nil} by default.
6272 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6273 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6274 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6275 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6276 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6277 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6278 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6280 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6281 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6282 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6287 @node More Threading
6288 @subsubsection More Threading
6291 @item gnus-show-threads
6292 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6293 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6294 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6295 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6296 slower and more awkward.
6298 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6299 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6300 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6303 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6304 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6305 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6306 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6307 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6308 threads are expunged.
6310 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6311 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6312 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6315 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6316 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6317 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6318 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6319 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6320 result in a new thread.
6322 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6323 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6324 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6327 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6328 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6329 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6330 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6331 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6332 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6333 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6334 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6335 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6336 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6337 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6342 @node Low-Level Threading
6343 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6347 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6348 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6349 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6350 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6351 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6352 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6354 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6355 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6356 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6357 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6358 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6359 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6360 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6361 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6362 meaningful. Here's one example:
6365 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6367 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6368 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6370 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6372 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6379 @node Thread Commands
6380 @subsection Thread Commands
6381 @cindex thread commands
6387 @kindex T k (Summary)
6388 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6389 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6390 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6391 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6392 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6397 @kindex T l (Summary)
6398 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6399 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6400 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6401 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6404 @kindex T i (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6406 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6407 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6410 @kindex T # (Summary)
6411 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6412 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6413 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6416 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6417 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6418 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6419 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6422 @kindex T T (Summary)
6423 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6424 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6427 @kindex T s (Summary)
6428 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6429 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6430 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6433 @kindex T h (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6435 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6438 @kindex T S (Summary)
6439 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6440 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6443 @kindex T H (Summary)
6444 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6445 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6448 @kindex T t (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6450 Re-thread the current article's thread
6451 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6452 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6455 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6456 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6457 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6458 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6462 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6463 understand the numeric prefix.
6468 @kindex T n (Summary)
6470 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6472 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6473 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6474 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6477 @kindex T p (Summary)
6479 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6481 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6482 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6483 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6486 @kindex T d (Summary)
6487 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6488 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6491 @kindex T u (Summary)
6492 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6493 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6496 @kindex T o (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6498 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6501 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6502 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6503 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6504 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6505 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6506 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6507 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6508 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6509 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6510 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6511 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6512 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6516 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6517 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6519 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6520 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6521 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6522 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6523 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6524 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6525 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6526 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6527 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6528 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6529 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6531 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6532 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6533 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6534 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6535 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6537 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6538 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6539 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6541 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6542 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6543 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6544 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6545 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6546 ascending article order.
6548 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6549 by number, you could do something like:
6552 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6553 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6554 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6555 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6558 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6559 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6560 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6561 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6562 which the articles arrived.
6564 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6568 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6570 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6571 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6574 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6575 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6576 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6577 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6580 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6581 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6582 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6583 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6584 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6585 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6586 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6587 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6588 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6589 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6590 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6591 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6592 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6594 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6598 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6599 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6600 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6605 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6606 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6607 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6608 @cindex article pre-fetch
6611 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6612 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6613 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6614 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6615 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6617 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6618 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6620 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6621 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6622 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6623 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6624 connection is blocked.
6626 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6627 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6628 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6629 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6631 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6632 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6633 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6634 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6637 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6640 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6641 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6642 happen automatically.
6644 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6645 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6646 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6647 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6648 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6649 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6650 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6652 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6653 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6654 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6655 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6656 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6657 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6658 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6659 data structure as the only parameter.
6661 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6664 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6665 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6666 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6667 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6670 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6673 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6674 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6675 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6677 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6678 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6679 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6680 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6684 Remove articles when they are read.
6687 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6690 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6692 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6693 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6694 @c from the next group.
6697 @node Article Caching
6698 @section Article Caching
6699 @cindex article caching
6702 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6703 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6704 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6705 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6706 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6708 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6710 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6711 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6712 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6713 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6714 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6715 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6716 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6717 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6719 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6720 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6721 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6722 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6723 as dormant, and don't worry.
6725 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6727 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6728 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6729 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6730 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6731 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6732 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6733 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6734 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6735 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6736 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6738 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6739 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6740 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6741 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6742 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6743 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6744 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6745 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6746 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6747 not then be downloaded by this command.
6749 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6750 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6751 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6752 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6753 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6754 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6756 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6757 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6758 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6759 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6760 variables, the group is not cached.
6762 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6763 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6764 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6765 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6766 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6767 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6768 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6769 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6770 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6774 @node Persistent Articles
6775 @section Persistent Articles
6776 @cindex persistent articles
6778 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6779 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6780 useful in my opinion.
6782 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6783 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6784 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6785 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6786 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6787 the expiry going on at the news server.
6789 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6790 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6791 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6797 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6798 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6801 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6802 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6803 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6804 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6808 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6810 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6811 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6812 interested in persistent articles:
6815 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6819 @node Article Backlog
6820 @section Article Backlog
6822 @cindex article backlog
6824 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6825 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6826 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6827 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6828 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6829 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6830 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6831 increase memory usage some.
6833 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6834 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6835 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6836 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6837 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6838 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6839 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6841 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6844 @node Saving Articles
6845 @section Saving Articles
6846 @cindex saving articles
6848 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6849 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6850 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6851 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6852 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6854 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6855 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6856 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6858 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6859 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6860 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6861 deleted before saving.
6867 @kindex O o (Summary)
6869 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6870 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6871 Save the current article using the default article saver
6872 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6875 @kindex O m (Summary)
6876 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6877 Save the current article in mail format
6878 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6881 @kindex O r (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6883 Save the current article in rmail format
6884 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6887 @kindex O f (Summary)
6888 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6889 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6890 Save the current article in plain file format
6891 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6894 @kindex O F (Summary)
6895 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6896 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6897 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6900 @kindex O b (Summary)
6901 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6902 Save the current article body in plain file format
6903 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6906 @kindex O h (Summary)
6907 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6908 Save the current article in mh folder format
6909 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6912 @kindex O v (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6914 Save the current article in a VM folder
6915 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6919 @kindex O p (Summary)
6921 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6922 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6923 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6926 @kindex O P (Summary)
6927 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
6928 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
6929 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
6930 external program Muttprint (see
6931 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
6932 options to use is controlled by the variable
6933 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
6937 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6938 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6939 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6940 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6941 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6942 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6943 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6944 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6945 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6946 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6947 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6948 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6952 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6953 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6954 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6955 functions below, or you can create your own.
6959 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6960 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6961 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6962 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6963 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6964 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6965 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6967 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6968 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6969 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6970 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6971 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6972 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6974 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6975 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6976 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6977 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6978 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6979 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6980 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6982 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
6983 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
6984 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
6985 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
6986 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6987 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6989 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6990 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6991 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6992 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6993 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6995 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6996 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6997 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6998 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6999 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7002 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7003 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7004 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7005 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7006 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7008 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7009 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7010 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7011 reader to use this setting.
7014 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7015 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7016 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7017 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7020 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7021 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7022 available functions that generate names:
7026 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7027 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7028 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7030 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7031 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7032 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7034 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7035 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7036 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7038 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7039 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7040 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7042 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7043 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7044 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7047 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7048 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7049 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7050 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7051 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7055 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7056 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7057 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7058 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7061 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7062 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7063 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7064 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7065 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7066 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7067 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7068 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7069 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7071 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7072 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7073 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7074 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7076 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7077 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7078 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7081 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7082 lots of mail groups called things like
7083 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7084 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7085 following will do just that:
7088 (defun my-save-name (group)
7089 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7090 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7092 (setq gnus-split-methods
7093 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7098 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7099 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7100 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7101 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7102 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7103 all the files in the top level directory
7104 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7105 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7106 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7107 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7109 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7110 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7111 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7112 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7113 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7116 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7120 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7121 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7122 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7125 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7126 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7127 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7128 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7131 @node Decoding Articles
7132 @section Decoding Articles
7133 @cindex decoding articles
7135 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7136 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7139 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7140 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7141 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7142 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7143 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7144 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7148 @cindex article series
7149 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7150 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7151 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7152 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7153 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7155 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7156 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7157 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7159 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7160 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7161 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7163 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7164 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7165 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7168 @node Uuencoded Articles
7169 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7171 @cindex uuencoded articles
7176 @kindex X u (Summary)
7177 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7178 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7179 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7182 @kindex X U (Summary)
7183 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7184 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7185 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7188 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7189 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7190 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7193 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7195 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7196 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7200 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7201 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7202 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7203 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7204 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7206 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7207 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7208 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7209 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7212 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7213 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7214 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7215 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7216 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7217 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7221 @node Shell Archives
7222 @subsection Shell Archives
7224 @cindex shell archives
7225 @cindex shared articles
7227 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7228 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7229 some commands to deal with these:
7234 @kindex X s (Summary)
7235 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7236 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7239 @kindex X S (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7241 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7244 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7245 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7246 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7249 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7250 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7251 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7252 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7256 @node PostScript Files
7257 @subsection PostScript Files
7263 @kindex X p (Summary)
7264 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7265 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7268 @kindex X P (Summary)
7269 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7270 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7271 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7274 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7275 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7276 View the current PostScript series
7277 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7280 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7281 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7282 View and save the current PostScript series
7283 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7288 @subsection Other Files
7292 @kindex X o (Summary)
7293 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7294 Save the current series
7295 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7298 @kindex X b (Summary)
7299 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7300 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7301 doesn't really work yet.
7305 @node Decoding Variables
7306 @subsection Decoding Variables
7308 Adjective, not verb.
7311 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7312 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7313 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7317 @node Rule Variables
7318 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7319 @cindex rule variables
7321 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7322 variables are of the form
7325 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7332 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7333 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7335 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7336 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7339 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7340 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7343 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7344 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7345 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7346 user and default view rules.
7348 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7349 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7350 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7355 @node Other Decode Variables
7356 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7359 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7361 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7362 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7363 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7364 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7365 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7369 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7370 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7373 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7374 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7375 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7378 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7379 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7380 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7381 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7382 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7385 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7386 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7387 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7389 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7390 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7391 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7392 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7393 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7396 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7397 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7398 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7400 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7401 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7402 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7403 looking for files to display.
7405 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7406 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7407 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7410 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7411 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7412 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7415 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7416 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7417 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7420 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7421 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7422 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7425 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7426 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7427 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7428 decoded articles as unread.
7430 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7431 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7432 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7433 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7435 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7436 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7437 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7439 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7440 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7442 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7443 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7444 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7445 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7447 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7448 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7449 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7450 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7451 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7452 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7453 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7454 simply dropped them.
7459 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7460 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7464 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7465 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7466 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7467 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7468 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7469 for you when you post the article.
7471 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7472 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7473 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7474 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7476 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7477 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7478 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7479 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7480 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7481 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7482 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7484 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7485 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7486 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7487 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7488 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7489 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7490 Default is @code{t}.
7496 @subsection Viewing Files
7497 @cindex viewing files
7498 @cindex pseudo-articles
7500 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7501 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7502 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7503 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7504 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7505 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7506 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7508 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7509 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7510 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7511 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7513 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7514 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7515 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7517 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7518 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7519 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7520 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7521 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7523 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7524 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7525 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7526 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7527 a list of parameters to that command.
7529 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7530 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7531 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7533 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7534 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7535 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7538 @node Article Treatment
7539 @section Article Treatment
7541 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7542 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7543 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7544 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7545 these articles easier.
7548 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7549 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7550 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7551 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7552 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7553 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7554 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7555 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7556 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7560 @node Article Highlighting
7561 @subsection Article Highlighting
7562 @cindex highlighting
7564 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7565 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7570 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7571 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7572 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7573 Do much highlighting of the current article
7574 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7575 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7578 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7579 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7580 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7581 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7582 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7583 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7584 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7585 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7586 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7587 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7588 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7589 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7592 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7593 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7594 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7596 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7599 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7601 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7602 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7603 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7605 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7606 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7607 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7609 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7610 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7611 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7612 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7613 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7614 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7616 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7617 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7618 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7620 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7621 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7622 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7624 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7625 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7626 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7627 that it's a citation.
7629 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7630 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7631 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7633 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7634 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7635 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7637 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7638 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7639 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7640 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7646 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7647 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7648 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7649 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7650 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7651 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7652 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7653 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7658 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7661 @node Article Fontisizing
7662 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7664 @cindex article emphasis
7666 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7667 @kindex W e (Summary)
7668 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7669 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7670 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7671 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7673 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7674 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7675 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7676 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7677 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7678 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7679 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7680 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7684 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7685 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7686 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7695 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7696 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7697 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7698 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7699 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7700 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7701 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7702 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7703 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7704 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7705 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7706 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7707 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7709 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7710 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7711 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7715 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7718 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7720 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7721 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7722 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7723 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7725 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7728 @node Article Hiding
7729 @subsection Article Hiding
7730 @cindex article hiding
7732 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7733 too much cruft in most articles.
7738 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7739 @findex gnus-article-hide
7740 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7741 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7742 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7745 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7746 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7747 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7751 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7753 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7754 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7757 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7758 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7759 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7763 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7764 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7765 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7766 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7767 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7768 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7769 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7770 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7774 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7775 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7776 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7777 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7782 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7783 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7784 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7785 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7786 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7787 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7788 articles that have signatures in them do:
7790 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7792 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7794 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7795 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7797 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7800 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7805 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7806 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7807 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7808 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7811 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7812 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7815 @cindex stripping advertisements
7816 @cindex advertisements
7817 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7818 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7819 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7820 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7821 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7822 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7823 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7824 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7825 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7826 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7830 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7831 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7832 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7833 customizing the hiding:
7837 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7838 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7839 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7840 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7841 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7842 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7843 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7848 Starting point of the hidden text.
7850 Ending point of the hidden text.
7852 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7854 Number of lines of hidden text.
7857 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7858 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7859 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7860 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7861 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7866 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7867 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7869 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7870 following two variables:
7873 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7874 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7875 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7876 50), hide the cited text.
7878 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7879 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7880 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7885 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7886 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7887 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7888 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7889 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7890 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7894 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7895 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7896 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7898 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7899 citation customization.
7901 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7905 @node Article Washing
7906 @subsection Article Washing
7908 @cindex article washing
7910 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7911 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7913 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7914 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7917 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7918 articles by default.
7923 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7924 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7928 @kindex W l (Summary)
7929 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7930 Remove page breaks from the current article
7931 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7935 @kindex W r (Summary)
7936 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7937 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7938 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7939 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7940 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7941 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7943 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7944 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7945 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7946 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7950 @kindex W t (Summary)
7952 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7953 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7954 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}).
7957 @kindex W v (Summary)
7958 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7959 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7960 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7963 @kindex W m (Summary)
7964 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7965 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7966 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7969 @kindex W o (Summary)
7970 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7971 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7974 @kindex W d (Summary)
7975 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7976 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7978 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7980 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7981 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7982 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7983 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7986 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7987 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7988 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7989 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7992 @kindex W w (Summary)
7993 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7994 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7996 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8000 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8001 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8002 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8005 @kindex W C (Summary)
8006 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8007 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8008 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8011 @kindex W c (Summary)
8012 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8013 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8014 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8015 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8016 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8019 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8020 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8021 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8022 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8023 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
8024 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8025 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8027 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8030 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8031 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8032 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8033 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8034 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8037 @kindex W h (Summary)
8038 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8039 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
8040 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
8041 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
8043 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8046 @kindex W b (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8048 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8049 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8052 @kindex W B (Summary)
8053 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8054 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8055 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8058 @kindex W p (Summary)
8059 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8060 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8061 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8062 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8063 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8064 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8065 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8068 @kindex W s (Summary)
8069 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8070 Verify a signed (PGP, PGP/MIME or S/MIME) message
8071 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}).
8074 @kindex W u (Summary)
8075 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8076 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8079 @kindex W n (Summary)
8080 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8081 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8082 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8085 @kindex W W H (Summary)
8086 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
8087 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8088 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
8091 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8092 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8093 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8094 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8097 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8098 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8099 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8100 lines with a single empty line.
8101 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8104 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8105 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8106 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8107 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8110 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8111 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8112 Do all the three commands above
8113 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8116 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8117 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8118 Remove all blank lines
8119 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8122 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8123 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8124 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8125 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8128 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8129 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8130 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8131 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8135 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8138 @node Article Buttons
8139 @subsection Article Buttons
8142 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8143 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8144 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8145 button on these references.
8147 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8148 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8149 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8154 @item gnus-button-alist
8155 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8156 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8159 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8165 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8166 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8167 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8170 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8171 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8172 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8175 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8176 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8177 avoid false matches.
8180 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8183 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8184 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8188 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8191 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8194 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8195 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8196 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8197 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8198 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8201 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8204 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8206 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8207 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8208 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8209 default values of the variables above.
8211 @item gnus-article-button-face
8212 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8213 Face used on buttons.
8215 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8216 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8217 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8221 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8225 @subsection Article Date
8227 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8228 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8229 when the article was sent.
8234 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8235 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8236 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8237 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8240 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8241 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8243 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8244 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8247 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8249 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8252 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8253 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8254 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8255 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8258 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8259 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8260 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8261 @findex format-time-string
8262 Display the date using a user-defined format
8263 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8264 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8265 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8266 for a list of possible format specs.
8269 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8270 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8271 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8272 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8273 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8274 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8277 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8280 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8281 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8284 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8285 into wonderful absurdities.
8287 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8290 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8293 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8294 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8298 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8299 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8300 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8301 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8302 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8303 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8304 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8308 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8309 preferred format automatically.
8312 @node Article Display
8313 @subsection Article Display
8318 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8319 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8321 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8322 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8324 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8325 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8327 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8328 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8330 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8335 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8336 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8337 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8338 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8341 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8342 @findex gnus-article-toggle-smiley
8343 Toggle whether to display smileys
8344 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-smiley}).
8347 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8348 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8349 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8352 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8353 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8354 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8355 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8358 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8360 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8361 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8367 @node Article Signature
8368 @subsection Article Signature
8370 @cindex article signature
8372 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8373 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8374 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8375 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8376 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8377 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8378 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8379 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8380 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8383 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8384 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8385 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8386 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8387 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8388 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8389 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8390 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8393 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8396 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8397 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8398 signature when displaying articles.
8402 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8405 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8408 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8409 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8411 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8412 in question is not a signature.
8415 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8416 listed above. Here's an example:
8419 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8420 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8423 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8424 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8425 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8426 signature after all.
8429 @node Article Miscellania
8430 @subsection Article Miscellania
8434 @kindex A t (Summary)
8435 @findex gnus-article-babel
8436 Translate the article from one language to another
8437 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8443 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8444 @cindex MIME decoding
8446 @cindex viewing attachments
8448 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8449 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8455 @kindex K v (Summary)
8456 View the @sc{mime} part.
8459 @kindex K o (Summary)
8460 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8463 @kindex K c (Summary)
8464 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8467 @kindex K e (Summary)
8468 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8471 @kindex K i (Summary)
8472 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8475 @kindex K | (Summary)
8476 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8479 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8484 @kindex K b (Summary)
8485 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8486 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8490 @kindex K m (Summary)
8491 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8492 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8493 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8494 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8495 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8498 @kindex X m (Summary)
8499 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8500 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8501 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8502 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8505 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8507 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8508 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8511 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8512 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8513 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8516 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8517 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8518 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8520 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8521 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8522 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8523 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8524 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8525 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8528 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8529 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8530 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8537 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8538 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8539 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8540 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8543 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8546 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8550 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8551 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8552 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8553 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8554 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8555 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8558 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8559 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8560 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8561 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8562 displayed. This variable overrides
8563 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8565 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8566 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8567 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8569 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8570 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8571 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8572 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8573 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8574 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8575 save all jpegs into some directory).
8577 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8580 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8581 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8583 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8584 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8585 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8586 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8587 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8590 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8591 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8592 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8594 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8595 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8596 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8597 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8599 Ready-made functions include@*
8600 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8601 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8602 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8603 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8604 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8605 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8606 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8607 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8608 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8609 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8610 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8611 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8613 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8614 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8616 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8617 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8618 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8621 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8622 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8623 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8624 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8628 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8637 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8638 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8639 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8640 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8641 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8642 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8643 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8645 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8646 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8647 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8648 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8650 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8651 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8652 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8653 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8654 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8655 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8656 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8657 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8659 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8660 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8661 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8662 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8663 quoted-printable header encoding.
8665 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8666 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8667 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8671 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8674 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8675 means encode all charsets),
8677 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8678 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8679 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8686 @cindex coding system aliases
8687 @cindex preferred charset
8689 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8691 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8692 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8695 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8696 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8699 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8700 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8702 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8705 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8708 This will almost do the right thing.
8710 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8714 (codepage-setup 1251)
8715 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8719 @node Article Commands
8720 @section Article Commands
8727 @kindex A P (Summary)
8728 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8729 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8730 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8731 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
8732 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
8733 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
8738 @node Summary Sorting
8739 @section Summary Sorting
8740 @cindex summary sorting
8742 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8743 can't really see why you'd want that.
8748 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8749 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8750 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8753 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8754 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8755 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8758 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8759 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8760 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8763 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8764 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8765 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8768 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8769 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8770 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8773 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8774 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8775 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8778 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8779 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8780 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8783 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8784 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8785 Sort using the default sorting method
8786 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8789 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8790 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8791 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8792 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8793 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8797 @node Finding the Parent
8798 @section Finding the Parent
8799 @cindex parent articles
8800 @cindex referring articles
8805 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8806 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8807 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8808 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8809 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8810 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8811 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8812 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8813 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8815 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8816 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8817 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
8818 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8819 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8823 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8824 @kindex A R (Summary)
8825 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8826 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8829 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8830 @kindex A T (Summary)
8831 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8832 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8833 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8834 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8835 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8836 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8837 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8839 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8840 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8841 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8842 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8843 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8844 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8847 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8848 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8850 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8851 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8852 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8853 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8854 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8855 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8856 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8859 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8860 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8861 by giving this command a prefix.
8863 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8864 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8865 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8866 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8867 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8868 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8871 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8872 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8873 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8876 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8877 then ask Deja if that fails:
8880 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8882 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8885 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8886 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8887 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8888 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8889 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8890 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8894 @node Alternative Approaches
8895 @section Alternative Approaches
8897 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8898 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8901 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8902 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8907 @subsection Pick and Read
8908 @cindex pick and read
8910 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8911 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8912 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8913 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8915 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8916 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8917 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8918 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8919 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8920 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8922 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8927 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8928 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8929 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8930 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8931 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8932 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8933 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8934 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8937 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8938 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8939 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8940 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8944 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8945 Unpick the thread or article
8946 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8947 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8948 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8949 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8950 the thread or article at that line.
8954 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8955 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8956 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8957 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8958 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8959 will still be visible when you are reading.
8963 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8964 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8965 which is mapped to the same function
8966 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8968 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8971 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8974 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8975 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8977 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8978 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8979 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8981 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8982 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8983 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8984 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8985 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8986 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8987 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8991 @subsection Binary Groups
8992 @cindex binary groups
8994 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8995 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8996 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8997 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8998 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8999 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9000 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9003 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9004 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9005 command, when you have turned on this mode
9006 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9008 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9009 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9013 @section Tree Display
9016 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9017 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9018 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9019 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9022 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9025 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9026 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9027 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9029 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9030 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9031 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9032 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9033 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9035 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9036 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9037 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9038 default is @code{modeline}.
9040 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9041 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9042 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9043 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9044 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9045 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9046 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9052 The name of the poster.
9054 The @code{From} header.
9056 The number of the article.
9058 The opening bracket.
9060 The closing bracket.
9065 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9067 Variables related to the display are:
9070 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9071 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9072 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9073 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9074 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9075 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9077 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9078 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9079 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9080 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9084 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9085 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9086 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9087 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9088 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9089 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9090 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9091 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9092 other windows displayed next to it.
9094 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9098 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9099 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9102 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9103 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9104 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9105 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9106 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9107 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9108 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9112 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9115 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9125 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9129 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9130 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9132 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9134 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9139 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9140 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9141 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9144 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9145 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9146 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9147 (gnus-add-configuration
9151 (summary 0.75 point)
9156 @xref{Window Layout}.
9159 @node Mail Group Commands
9160 @section Mail Group Commands
9161 @cindex mail group commands
9163 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9164 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9166 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9167 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9172 @kindex B e (Summary)
9173 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9174 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9175 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9176 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9177 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9180 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9181 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9182 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9183 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9184 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9185 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9188 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9189 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9190 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9191 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9192 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9193 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9196 @kindex B m (Summary)
9198 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9199 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9200 Move the article from one mail group to another
9201 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9202 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9205 @kindex B c (Summary)
9207 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9208 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9209 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9210 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9211 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9214 @kindex B B (Summary)
9215 @cindex crosspost mail
9216 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9217 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9218 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9219 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9220 be properly updated.
9223 @kindex B i (Summary)
9224 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9225 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9226 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9227 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9230 @kindex B r (Summary)
9231 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9232 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9233 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9234 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9235 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9236 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9237 (which is the default).
9241 @kindex B w (Summary)
9243 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9244 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9245 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9246 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9247 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9248 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9251 @kindex B q (Summary)
9252 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9253 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9254 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9255 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9258 @kindex B t (Summary)
9259 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9260 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9261 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9264 @kindex B p (Summary)
9265 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9266 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9267 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9268 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9269 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9270 article from your news server (or rather, from
9271 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9272 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9273 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9274 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9275 just not have arrived yet.
9279 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9280 @cindex moving articles
9281 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9282 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9283 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9284 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9285 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9286 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9287 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9290 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9291 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9292 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9293 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9297 @node Various Summary Stuff
9298 @section Various Summary Stuff
9301 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9302 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9303 * Summary Generation Commands::
9304 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9308 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9309 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9310 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9312 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9313 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9314 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9315 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9316 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9317 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9320 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9321 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9322 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9323 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9324 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9326 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9327 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9328 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9331 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9332 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9333 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9334 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9335 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9336 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9337 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9338 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9339 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9340 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9342 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9343 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9344 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9345 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9346 list of articles to be selected.
9348 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9349 the list in one particular group:
9352 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9353 (if (string= group "some.group")
9354 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9358 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9359 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9360 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9361 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9362 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9363 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9364 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9365 buffers. For example:
9368 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9369 '(message-use-followup-to
9370 (gnus-visible-headers .
9371 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9377 @node Summary Group Information
9378 @subsection Summary Group Information
9383 @kindex H f (Summary)
9384 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9385 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9386 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9387 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9388 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9389 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9390 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9391 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9392 be used for fetching the file.
9395 @kindex H d (Summary)
9396 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9397 Give a brief description of the current group
9398 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9399 rereading the description from the server.
9402 @kindex H h (Summary)
9403 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9404 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9405 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9408 @kindex H i (Summary)
9409 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9410 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9414 @node Searching for Articles
9415 @subsection Searching for Articles
9420 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9421 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9422 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9423 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9426 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9427 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9428 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9429 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9433 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9434 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9435 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9436 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9437 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9438 search backward instead.
9440 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9441 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9444 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9445 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9446 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9447 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9450 @node Summary Generation Commands
9451 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9456 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9457 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9458 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9461 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9462 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9463 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9464 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9469 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9470 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9476 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9477 @kindex A D (Summary)
9478 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9479 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9480 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9481 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9482 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9483 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9484 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9485 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9489 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9490 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9491 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9492 several documents into one biiig group
9493 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9494 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9495 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9496 command understands the process/prefix convention
9497 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9500 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9501 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9502 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9503 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9504 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9505 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9509 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9510 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9511 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9514 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9515 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9516 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9517 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9520 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9521 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9522 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9523 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9528 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9529 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9530 @cindex summary exit
9531 @cindex exiting groups
9533 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9534 group and return you to the group buffer.
9540 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9542 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9543 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9544 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9545 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9546 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9547 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9548 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9549 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9550 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9551 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9552 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9556 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9558 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9559 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9560 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9564 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9566 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9567 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9568 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9569 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9572 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9573 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9574 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9575 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9578 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9579 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9580 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9581 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9584 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9585 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9586 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9587 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9588 all articles, both read and unread.
9592 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9593 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9594 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9595 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9596 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9597 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9598 articles, both read and unread.
9601 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9602 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9603 Exit the group and go to the next group
9604 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9607 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9608 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9609 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9610 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9613 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9614 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9615 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9616 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9617 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9618 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9621 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9622 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9623 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9624 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9626 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9627 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9628 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9629 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9630 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9631 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9632 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9633 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9634 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9635 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9636 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9637 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9639 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9641 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9642 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9643 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9644 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9645 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9646 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9647 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9648 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9649 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9652 @node Crosspost Handling
9653 @section Crosspost Handling
9657 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9658 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9659 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9660 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9661 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9662 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9665 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9666 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9667 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9668 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9669 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9671 @cindex cross-posting
9674 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9675 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9676 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9677 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9678 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9679 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9680 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9681 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9682 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9683 the cross reference mechanism.
9685 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9686 @cindex overview.fmt
9687 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9688 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9689 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9690 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9691 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9692 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9695 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9696 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9697 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9702 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9705 @node Duplicate Suppression
9706 @section Duplicate Suppression
9708 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9709 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9710 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9711 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9716 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9717 is evil and not very common.
9720 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9721 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9724 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9725 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9728 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9731 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9732 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9734 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9735 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9736 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9737 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9738 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9739 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9740 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9743 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9744 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9745 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9746 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9747 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9751 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9752 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9753 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9755 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9756 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9757 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9758 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9759 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
9760 session are suppressed.
9762 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9763 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9764 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9765 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9767 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9768 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9769 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9770 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9773 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
9774 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9775 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9776 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9777 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
9778 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9779 to you to figure out, I think.
9784 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9785 The formats that are supported are PGP (plain text, RFC 1991 format),
9786 PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME, however you need some external
9787 programs to get things to work:
9791 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9792 gpg.el as well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG). @xref{Using GPG}.
9795 To verify or decrypt S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL.
9796 OpenSSL 0.9.6 or newer is recommended.
9800 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9801 manual. @xref{Security, ,Security, message, The Message Manual}.
9804 @item mm-verify-option
9805 @vindex mm-verify-option
9806 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9807 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9808 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9810 @item mm-decrypt-option
9811 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9812 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9813 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9814 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9819 @section Mailing List
9821 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9822 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9823 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9826 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9829 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9834 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9835 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9836 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9839 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9840 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9841 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9844 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9845 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9846 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9850 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9851 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9852 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9855 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9856 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9857 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9860 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9861 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9862 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9866 @node Article Buffer
9867 @chapter Article Buffer
9868 @cindex article buffer
9870 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9871 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9872 tell gnus otherwise.
9875 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9876 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9877 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9878 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9879 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9883 @node Hiding Headers
9884 @section Hiding Headers
9885 @cindex hiding headers
9886 @cindex deleting headers
9888 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9889 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9891 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9892 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9893 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9894 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9895 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9896 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9897 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9898 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9899 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9901 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9905 @item gnus-visible-headers
9906 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9907 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9908 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9909 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9911 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9912 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9915 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9918 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9921 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9922 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9923 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9924 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9925 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9926 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9928 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
9929 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
9932 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9935 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9938 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9939 variable will have no effect.
9943 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9944 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9945 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9946 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9947 the headers are to be displayed.
9949 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9950 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9953 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9956 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9957 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9959 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9960 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9961 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9962 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9963 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9964 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9965 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9968 These conditions are:
9971 Remove all empty headers.
9973 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9974 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9976 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9979 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9982 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9983 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9985 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9988 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9990 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9993 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9996 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9997 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10000 This is also the default value for this variable.
10004 @section Using MIME
10007 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10008 while people stand around yawning.
10010 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10011 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10013 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10014 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10015 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10017 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10018 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10019 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
10020 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10021 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10022 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10023 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10024 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10025 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
10026 existed yet, sorry).
10028 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10029 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
10030 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
10031 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
10032 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
10033 buffer. These can't be avoided.
10035 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10036 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10037 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10038 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10039 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10040 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10041 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10042 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10043 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10046 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10048 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10049 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10050 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10051 buffer when there are nobody else.
10053 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10056 @node Customizing Articles
10057 @section Customizing Articles
10058 @cindex article customization
10060 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10061 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10062 called automatically when you select the articles.
10064 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10065 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10066 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10067 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10069 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10070 for sensible values.
10074 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10077 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10080 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10083 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10086 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10090 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10091 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10092 regexps in the list.
10095 A list where the first element is not a string:
10097 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10098 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10099 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10103 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10107 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10112 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10113 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10114 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10115 considered to contain just a single part.
10117 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10118 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10119 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10120 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10121 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10122 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10123 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10125 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10126 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10127 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10128 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10131 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10132 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10133 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10134 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10135 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10136 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10137 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10138 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10139 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10140 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10141 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
10142 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10143 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10144 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10145 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10146 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10147 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10148 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10149 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10150 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10151 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10152 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10153 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10154 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10155 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10156 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10157 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10158 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10159 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10160 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10161 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10162 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10163 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10164 @item gnus-treat-translate
10165 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10166 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10167 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10168 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10169 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10170 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10171 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10172 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
10175 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10176 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10177 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10178 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10179 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10183 @node Article Keymap
10184 @section Article Keymap
10186 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10187 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10188 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10189 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10192 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10197 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10198 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10199 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10202 @kindex DEL (Article)
10203 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10204 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10207 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10208 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10209 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10210 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10211 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10214 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10215 @findex gnus-article-mail
10216 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10217 given a prefix, include the mail.
10220 @kindex s (Article)
10221 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10222 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10223 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10226 @kindex ? (Article)
10227 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10228 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10229 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10232 @kindex TAB (Article)
10233 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10234 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10235 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10238 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10239 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10240 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10246 @section Misc Article
10250 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10251 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10252 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10253 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10256 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10257 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10259 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10260 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10262 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10263 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10264 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10265 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10266 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10267 the contents of the article buffer.
10269 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10270 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10271 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10273 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10274 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10275 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10276 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10278 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10279 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10280 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10281 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10282 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10288 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10289 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10290 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10295 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10298 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10301 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10302 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10303 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10306 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10309 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10312 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10317 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10321 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10323 @item gnus-break-pages
10324 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10325 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10326 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10327 paging will not be done.
10329 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10330 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10331 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10336 @node Composing Messages
10337 @chapter Composing Messages
10338 @cindex composing messages
10341 @cindex sending mail
10347 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10348 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10349 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10350 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
10351 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10352 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10355 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10356 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10357 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10358 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10359 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10360 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10361 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10362 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
10365 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10366 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10372 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10375 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10376 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10377 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10378 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10380 @item gnus-add-to-list
10381 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10382 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10383 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10388 @node Posting Server
10389 @section Posting Server
10391 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10392 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10394 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10396 @vindex gnus-post-method
10398 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10399 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10400 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10401 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10402 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10403 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10404 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10407 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10410 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10411 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10412 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10413 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10415 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10416 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10418 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10419 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10422 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10423 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10426 @node Mail and Post
10427 @section Mail and Post
10429 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10433 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10434 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10435 @cindex mailing lists
10437 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10438 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10439 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10440 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10441 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10442 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10443 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10444 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10445 still a pain, though.
10449 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10450 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10451 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10454 @findex ispell-message
10456 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10459 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10460 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10463 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10467 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10468 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10470 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10473 Modify to suit your needs.
10476 @node Archived Messages
10477 @section Archived Messages
10478 @cindex archived messages
10479 @cindex sent messages
10481 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10482 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10483 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10484 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10487 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10488 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
10489 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10492 (nnfolder "archive"
10493 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10494 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10495 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10496 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10499 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10500 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10501 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10502 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10505 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10506 '(nnfolder "archive"
10507 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10508 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10509 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10512 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10514 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10515 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10516 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10518 This variable can be used to do the following:
10523 Messages will be saved in that group.
10525 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10526 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10527 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10528 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10529 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10530 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10531 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10532 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10536 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10538 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10539 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10542 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10547 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10549 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10552 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10554 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10557 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10559 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10560 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10561 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10562 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10565 More complex stuff:
10567 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10568 '((if (message-news-p)
10573 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10574 messages in one file per month:
10577 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10578 '((if (message-news-p)
10580 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10583 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10584 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10586 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10587 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10588 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10589 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10590 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10591 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10592 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10593 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10594 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10595 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10597 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10598 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10599 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10600 this will disable archiving.
10603 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10604 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10605 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10606 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10607 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10610 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10611 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10612 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10615 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10616 but the latter is the preferred method.
10618 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10619 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10620 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10625 @node Posting Styles
10626 @section Posting Styles
10627 @cindex posting styles
10630 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10632 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10633 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10634 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10637 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10638 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10639 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10640 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10641 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10646 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10647 (organization "What me?"))
10649 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10650 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10651 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10654 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10655 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10656 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10657 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10658 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10659 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10660 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10661 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10663 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10664 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10665 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10666 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10667 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10668 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10669 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10670 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10671 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10673 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10674 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10675 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10676 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10677 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10678 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10679 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10680 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10681 result is thrown away.
10683 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10684 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10685 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10686 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10687 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10688 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10690 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10691 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10692 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10694 @findex message-mail-p
10695 @findex message-news-p
10697 So here's a new example:
10700 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10702 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10704 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10705 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10707 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10708 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10709 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10711 (signature my-news-signature))
10712 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10713 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10714 ((posting-from-work-p)
10715 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10716 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10717 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10718 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10720 (From (save-excursion
10721 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10722 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10724 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10727 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10728 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10729 if you fill many roles.
10736 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10737 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10738 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10739 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10740 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10742 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10743 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10744 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10745 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10746 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10750 @vindex nndraft-directory
10751 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10752 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10753 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10754 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10755 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10756 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10758 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10759 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10762 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10763 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10764 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10765 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10766 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10767 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10768 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10769 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10770 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10771 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10772 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10773 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10774 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10775 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10777 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10778 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10779 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10781 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10782 @kindex D e (Draft)
10783 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10784 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10785 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10787 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10790 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10791 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10792 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10793 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10794 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10795 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10796 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10799 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10800 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10801 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10804 @node Rejected Articles
10805 @section Rejected Articles
10806 @cindex rejected articles
10808 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10809 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10810 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10811 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10813 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
10814 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10815 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10816 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
10817 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10819 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10820 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10821 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10827 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10828 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10829 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10831 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10832 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10836 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10837 (setq mml1991-use 'gpg)
10838 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10841 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10842 to 700, for your own safety.
10844 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10845 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME,
10846 @kbd{C-c C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also
10847 @kbd{C-c C-m c p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c
10848 C-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME. @xref{Security, ,Security, message,
10849 The Message Manual}.
10851 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10852 you've typed it correctly.
10854 @node Select Methods
10855 @chapter Select Methods
10856 @cindex foreign groups
10857 @cindex select methods
10859 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10860 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10861 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10862 personal mail group.
10864 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10865 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10866 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10867 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10868 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10869 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
10871 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10872 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10874 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
10877 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10878 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10879 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10880 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10881 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10883 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10886 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10887 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10888 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10889 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10890 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
10891 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10892 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10893 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10897 @node Server Buffer
10898 @section Server Buffer
10900 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10901 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10902 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10903 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10904 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10905 back end represents a virtual server.
10907 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
10908 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10909 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
10910 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10912 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10913 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10914 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10915 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10916 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10917 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10918 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10920 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10921 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10924 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10925 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10926 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10927 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10928 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10929 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10930 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10933 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10934 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10937 @node Server Buffer Format
10938 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10939 @cindex server buffer format
10941 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10942 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10943 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10944 variable, with some simple extensions:
10949 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
10952 The name of this server.
10955 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10958 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10961 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10962 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10963 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10964 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10974 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10977 @node Server Commands
10978 @subsection Server Commands
10979 @cindex server commands
10985 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10986 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10990 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10991 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10994 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10995 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10996 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11000 @findex gnus-server-exit
11001 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11005 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11006 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11010 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11011 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11015 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11016 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11020 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11021 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11025 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11026 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11027 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11032 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11033 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11034 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11035 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11040 @node Example Methods
11041 @subsection Example Methods
11043 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11046 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11049 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11055 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11056 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11059 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11060 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11062 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11063 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11067 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11070 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11071 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11073 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11074 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11075 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11079 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11082 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11085 Here's the method for a public spool:
11089 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11090 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11096 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11097 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11098 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11099 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11100 should probably look something like this:
11104 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11105 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11106 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11107 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11110 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11111 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11112 configuration to the example above:
11115 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11118 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11119 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11120 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11124 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11125 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11126 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11127 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11130 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11131 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11132 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11133 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11136 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11137 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11139 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11140 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11142 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11143 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11144 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11146 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11148 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11149 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11150 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11151 will contain the following:
11161 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11162 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11163 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11166 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11167 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11168 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11171 @node Server Variables
11172 @subsection Server Variables
11174 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11175 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11176 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11177 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11178 won't change the "derived" variables.
11180 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11181 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11182 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11183 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11184 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11185 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11186 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11187 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11188 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11192 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11193 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11194 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11198 @node Servers and Methods
11199 @subsection Servers and Methods
11201 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11202 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11203 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11204 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11208 @node Unavailable Servers
11209 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11211 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11212 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11213 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11214 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11215 actually the case or not.
11217 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11218 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11219 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11220 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11221 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11222 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11223 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11224 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11226 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11227 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11229 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11230 with the following commands:
11236 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11237 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11238 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11242 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11243 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11244 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11248 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11249 Mark the current server as unreachable
11250 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11253 @kindex M-o (Server)
11254 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11255 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11256 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11259 @kindex M-c (Server)
11260 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11261 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11262 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11266 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11267 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11268 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11274 @section Getting News
11275 @cindex reading news
11276 @cindex news back ends
11278 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11279 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11280 or it can read from a local spool.
11283 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11284 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11289 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11292 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11293 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11294 server as the, uhm, address.
11296 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11297 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11298 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11299 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11301 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11302 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11303 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11305 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11310 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11311 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11312 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11314 @cindex authentification
11315 @cindex nntp authentification
11316 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11317 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11318 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11319 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11320 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11321 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11322 present in this hook.
11324 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11325 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11326 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11327 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11328 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11329 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11330 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11331 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11332 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11333 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11334 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11335 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11339 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11342 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11344 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11345 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11346 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11347 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11348 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11349 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11350 @samp{force} is explained below.
11354 Here's an example file:
11357 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11358 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11361 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11362 have to be first, for instance.
11364 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11365 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11366 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11367 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11368 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11369 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11370 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11372 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11373 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11379 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11380 previously mentioned.
11382 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11384 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11385 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11386 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11387 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11388 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11391 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11392 '(("innd" (ding))))
11395 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11397 The default value is
11400 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11401 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11402 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11405 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11406 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11408 @item nntp-maximum-request
11409 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11410 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11411 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11412 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11413 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11414 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11415 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11417 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11418 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11419 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11420 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11421 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11422 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11423 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11424 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11425 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11426 no timeouts are done.
11428 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11429 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11430 @c @cindex PPP connections
11431 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11432 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11433 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11434 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11435 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11436 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11437 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11438 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11439 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11440 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11442 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11443 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11444 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11445 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11446 @c described above.
11448 @item nntp-server-hook
11449 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11450 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11453 @item nntp-buggy-select
11454 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11455 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11457 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11458 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11459 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11460 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11463 @item nntp-xover-commands
11464 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11467 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11468 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11472 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11473 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11474 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11475 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11476 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11477 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11478 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11479 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11480 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11481 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11482 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11484 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11485 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11486 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11488 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11489 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11490 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11491 server closes connection.
11493 @item nntp-record-commands
11494 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11495 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11496 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11497 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11498 that doesn't seem to work.
11500 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11501 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11502 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11503 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11504 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11505 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11506 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11507 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11509 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11510 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11511 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11512 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11513 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11514 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11515 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11518 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11521 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
11522 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
11524 @item nntp-list-options
11525 @vindex nntp-list-options
11526 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
11527 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
11528 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
11529 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
11530 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
11534 (setq gnus-select-method
11535 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11536 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
11539 @item nntp-options-subscribe
11540 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
11541 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
11542 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11543 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11544 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11545 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11548 (setq gnus-select-method
11549 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11550 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
11553 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
11554 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
11555 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
11556 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11557 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11558 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11559 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11562 (setq gnus-select-method
11563 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11564 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
11569 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11570 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11571 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11575 @node Direct Functions
11576 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11577 @cindex direct connection functions
11579 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11580 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11581 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11582 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11585 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11586 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11587 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11590 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11591 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11592 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11593 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11594 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11595 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11596 define a server as follows:
11599 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11601 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11603 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11604 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11605 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11606 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11609 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11610 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11611 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11612 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11613 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11614 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11615 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11616 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11620 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11621 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11622 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11625 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11626 session, which is not a good idea.
11630 @node Indirect Functions
11631 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11632 @cindex indirect connection functions
11634 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11635 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11636 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11637 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11638 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11639 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11642 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11643 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11644 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11645 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11646 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11648 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11651 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11652 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11653 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11654 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11657 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11658 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11659 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11660 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11662 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11665 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11666 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11667 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11670 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11671 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11672 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11673 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11675 @item nntp-via-user-password
11676 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11677 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11679 @item nntp-via-envuser
11680 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11681 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11682 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11683 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11685 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11686 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11687 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11688 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11695 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11700 @item nntp-via-user-name
11701 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11702 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11704 @item nntp-via-address
11705 @vindex nntp-via-address
11706 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11711 @node Common Variables
11712 @subsubsection Common Variables
11714 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11715 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11720 @item nntp-pre-command
11721 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11722 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11723 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11724 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11725 wrapper for instance.
11728 @vindex nntp-address
11729 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11731 @item nntp-port-number
11732 @vindex nntp-port-number
11733 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11735 @item nntp-end-of-line
11736 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11737 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11738 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11739 using a non native connection function.
11741 @item nntp-telnet-command
11742 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11743 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11744 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11745 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11747 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11748 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11749 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11756 @subsection News Spool
11760 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11761 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11762 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11765 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11766 anything else) as the address.
11768 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11769 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11770 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11771 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11775 @item nnspool-inews-program
11776 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11777 Program used to post an article.
11779 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11780 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11781 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11783 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11784 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11785 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11786 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11788 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11789 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11790 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11791 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11793 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11794 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11795 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11797 @item nnspool-active-file
11798 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11799 The path to the active file.
11801 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11802 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11803 The path to the group descriptions file.
11805 @item nnspool-history-file
11806 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11807 The path to the news history file.
11809 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11810 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11811 The path to the active date file.
11813 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11814 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11815 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11818 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11819 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11821 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11822 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11823 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11829 @section Getting Mail
11830 @cindex reading mail
11833 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11837 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11838 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11839 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11840 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11841 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11842 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11843 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11844 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11845 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11846 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11847 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11848 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
11849 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11850 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
11854 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11855 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11857 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11858 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11859 of a culture shock.
11861 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11862 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11864 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11865 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11866 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11867 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11869 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11871 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11872 deleted? How awful!
11874 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11875 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11876 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11877 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11880 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11881 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11882 they want to treat a message.
11884 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11885 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11886 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11887 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11888 archived somewhere else.
11890 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11891 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11892 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11893 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11894 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11896 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11897 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11898 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11900 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11901 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11904 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11905 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11906 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11907 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11908 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11910 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11911 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11912 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11913 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11914 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11915 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11919 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11920 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11922 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11923 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11924 and things will happen automatically.
11926 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11927 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11930 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11933 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
11934 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11935 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11936 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11937 like any other group.
11939 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11942 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11943 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11944 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11948 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11949 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11950 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11953 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11954 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11955 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11958 @node Splitting Mail
11959 @subsection Splitting Mail
11960 @cindex splitting mail
11961 @cindex mail splitting
11963 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11964 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11965 to be split into groups.
11968 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11969 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11970 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11971 ("mail.other" "")))
11974 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11975 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11976 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11977 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11978 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11979 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11980 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11983 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11986 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11987 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11988 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11989 mail belongs in that group.
11991 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11992 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11993 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11994 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11995 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11996 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11998 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11999 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12000 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12001 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12002 thinks should carry this mail message.
12004 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12005 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12006 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12007 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12009 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12010 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12011 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12012 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12013 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12015 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12018 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12019 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12020 links. If that's the case for you, set
12021 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12022 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12024 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12025 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12026 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12027 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12028 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12029 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12032 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12033 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12034 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12035 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12036 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12037 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12038 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12039 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12040 month's rent money.
12044 @subsection Mail Sources
12046 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12047 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12051 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12052 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12053 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12057 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12058 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12060 @cindex mail server
12063 @cindex mail source
12065 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12066 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12071 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12074 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12075 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12076 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12079 The following mail source types are available:
12083 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12089 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12090 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
12093 An example file mail source:
12096 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12099 Or using the default path:
12105 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12106 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12107 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12110 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12114 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12117 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12121 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12124 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12126 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12129 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12133 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12134 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12135 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12136 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12137 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12138 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12139 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12140 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12146 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12150 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12154 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12155 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12156 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12157 predicate are considered.
12161 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12165 An example directory mail source:
12168 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12173 Get mail from a POP server.
12179 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12180 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12183 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12184 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12185 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12186 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12187 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12190 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12194 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12198 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12199 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12202 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12205 The valid format specifier characters are:
12209 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12210 included in this string.
12213 The name of the server.
12216 The port number of the server.
12219 The user name to use.
12222 The password to use.
12225 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12226 corresponding keywords.
12229 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12230 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12233 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12234 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12237 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12238 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12241 @item :authentication
12242 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12243 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12248 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12249 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12251 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12252 default user name, and default fetcher:
12258 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12261 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12262 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12265 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12268 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12272 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12273 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12274 contains exactly one mail.
12280 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12281 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12284 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12285 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12287 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12288 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12289 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12292 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12293 from locking problems).
12297 Two example maildir mail sources:
12300 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12301 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12305 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12310 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12311 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12312 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12313 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12316 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12317 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12323 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12324 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12327 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12328 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12331 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12335 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12339 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12340 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12341 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12342 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12344 @item :authentication
12345 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12346 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12347 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12348 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12351 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12352 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12353 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12359 The valid format specifier characters are:
12363 The name of the server.
12366 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12369 The port number of the server.
12372 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12373 corresponding keywords.
12376 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12377 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12380 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12381 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12382 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12383 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12384 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12385 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12388 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12389 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12390 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12391 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12394 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12395 after finishing the fetch.
12399 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12402 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12404 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12408 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12409 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12411 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12414 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12415 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12417 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12423 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12424 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12427 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12431 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12435 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12436 folder after finishing the fetch.
12440 An example webmail source:
12443 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12445 :password "secret")
12450 @item Common Keywords
12451 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12457 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12458 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12462 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12467 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12468 useful when you use local mail and news.
12473 @subsubsection Function Interface
12475 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12476 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12477 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12478 consider the following mail-source setting:
12481 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12482 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12485 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12486 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12487 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12488 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12489 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12491 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12494 @node Mail Source Customization
12495 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12497 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12498 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12502 @item mail-source-crash-box
12503 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12504 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12505 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12507 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12508 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12509 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12511 @item mail-source-directory
12512 @vindex mail-source-directory
12513 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12514 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12515 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12518 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12519 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12520 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12521 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12522 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12523 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12525 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12526 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12527 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12529 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12530 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12531 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12532 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12537 @node Fetching Mail
12538 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12540 @vindex mail-sources
12541 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12542 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12543 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12544 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12546 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12547 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12550 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12551 mail server, you'd say something like:
12556 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12557 :password "secret")))
12560 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12564 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12565 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12568 :password "secret")))
12572 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12573 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12574 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12575 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12576 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12577 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12581 @node Mail Back End Variables
12582 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12584 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12588 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12589 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12590 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12591 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12593 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12594 @item nnmail-split-hook
12595 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12596 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12597 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12598 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12599 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12600 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12601 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12602 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12603 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12606 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12607 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12608 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12609 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12610 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12611 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12612 starting to handle the new mail) and
12613 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12614 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12615 default file modes the new mail files get:
12618 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12619 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12621 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12622 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12625 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12626 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12627 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12628 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12629 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12630 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12631 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12633 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12634 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12635 @findex delete-file
12636 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12638 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12639 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12640 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12641 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12642 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12647 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12648 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12649 @cindex mail splitting
12650 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12652 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12653 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12654 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12655 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12656 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12657 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12659 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12662 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12663 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12664 ;; from real errors.
12665 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12667 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12668 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12669 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12670 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12671 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12672 ;; Other mailing lists...
12673 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12674 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12675 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12676 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12677 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12678 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12679 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12680 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12682 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12683 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12687 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12688 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12689 the five possible split syntaxes:
12694 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12695 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12699 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12700 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12701 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12702 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12703 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12704 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12705 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12706 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12709 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12710 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12711 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12712 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12715 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12716 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12719 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12720 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12723 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12724 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12725 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12726 function should return a @var{split}.
12729 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12730 body of the messages:
12733 (defun split-on-body ()
12735 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12736 (goto-char (point-min))
12737 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12741 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12742 when the @code{:} function is run.
12745 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12746 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12747 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12751 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12755 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12756 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12757 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12758 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12759 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12761 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12762 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12763 are expanded as specified by the variable
12764 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12765 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12768 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12769 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12770 when all this splitting is performed.
12772 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12773 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12774 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12777 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12780 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12781 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12783 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12784 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12785 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12786 groupings 1 through 9.
12788 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12789 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12790 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12791 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12792 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12793 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12794 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12795 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12796 it once per thread.
12798 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12799 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12800 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12803 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12804 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12805 ;; other splits go here
12809 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12810 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12811 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12812 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12813 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12814 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12815 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12816 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12817 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12818 unless the group name matches the regexp
12819 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
12820 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
12821 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
12822 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
12823 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12824 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12825 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12826 messages goes into the new group.
12829 @node Group Mail Splitting
12830 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12831 @cindex mail splitting
12832 @cindex group mail splitting
12834 @findex gnus-group-split
12835 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12836 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12837 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12838 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12839 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12840 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12841 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12842 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12844 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12845 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12846 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12847 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12849 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12850 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12851 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12852 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12853 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12854 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12855 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12857 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12858 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12859 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12860 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12861 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12862 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12863 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12865 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12866 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12867 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12868 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12869 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12870 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12871 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12872 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12873 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12874 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12875 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12876 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12877 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12879 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12884 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12885 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12887 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12888 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12889 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12890 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12892 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12895 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12896 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12897 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12900 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12901 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12902 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12906 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12907 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12908 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12912 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12915 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12916 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12917 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12918 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12919 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12920 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12921 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12922 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12923 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12925 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12926 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12927 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12928 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12929 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12930 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12931 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12932 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12933 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12935 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12936 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12937 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12938 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12939 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12940 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12943 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12946 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12947 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12948 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12949 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12950 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12953 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12954 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12955 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12956 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12958 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12959 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12960 @cindex incorporating old mail
12961 @cindex import old mail
12963 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12964 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12965 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12968 Doing so can be quite easy.
12970 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12971 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12972 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12973 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12974 your @code{nnml} groups.
12980 Go to the group buffer.
12983 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12984 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12987 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12990 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12991 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12994 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12995 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12998 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12999 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13000 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13001 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13002 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13004 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13005 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13006 using the new mail back end.
13009 @node Expiring Mail
13010 @subsection Expiring Mail
13011 @cindex article expiry
13013 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13014 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13015 different approach to mail reading.
13017 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13018 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13019 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13020 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13021 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13022 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13025 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13026 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13027 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13028 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13029 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13030 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13031 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13032 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13034 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13035 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13036 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13037 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13038 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13039 column in the summary buffer.
13041 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13042 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13043 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13044 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13047 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13049 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13050 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13051 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13054 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13055 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13056 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13057 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13058 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13060 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13061 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13064 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13065 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13068 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13069 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13071 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13072 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13073 don't really mix very well.
13075 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13076 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13077 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13078 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13081 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13082 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13083 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13084 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13087 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13089 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13091 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13093 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13095 ((string= group "important")
13101 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13102 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13104 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13105 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13106 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13109 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13110 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13112 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13113 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13114 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13115 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13116 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13117 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13118 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13119 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13120 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13121 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13122 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13123 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13124 name or @code{delete}.
13126 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13128 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13131 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13132 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13133 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13134 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13135 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13138 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13139 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13140 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13141 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13142 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13145 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13146 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13147 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13148 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13149 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13150 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13152 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13153 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13154 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13155 easier for procmail users.
13157 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13158 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13159 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13160 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13161 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13162 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13163 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13164 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13165 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13166 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13167 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13168 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13169 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13172 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13174 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13175 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13176 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13177 auto-expire turned on.
13181 @subsection Washing Mail
13182 @cindex mail washing
13183 @cindex list server brain damage
13184 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13186 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13187 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13188 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13189 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13190 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13191 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13193 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13194 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13195 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13198 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13199 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13200 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13201 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13204 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13205 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13206 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13207 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13208 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13211 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13212 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13213 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13214 Emacs running on MS machines.
13218 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13219 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13220 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13221 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13224 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13225 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13226 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13227 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13229 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13230 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13231 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13232 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13233 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13234 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13235 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13238 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13239 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13242 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13243 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13246 This can also be done non-destructively with
13247 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13249 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13250 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13251 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13253 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13254 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13256 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13257 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13258 @code{References} headers.
13262 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13263 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13264 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13268 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13269 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13270 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13277 @subsection Duplicates
13279 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13280 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13281 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13282 @cindex duplicate mails
13283 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13284 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13285 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13286 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13287 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13288 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13289 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13290 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13291 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13292 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13293 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13294 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13295 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13297 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13298 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13299 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13300 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13302 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13305 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13306 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13310 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13311 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13312 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13313 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13314 (any mail "mail.misc")
13321 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13322 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13327 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13328 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13329 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13330 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13331 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13334 @node Not Reading Mail
13335 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13337 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13338 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13339 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13341 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13342 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13343 mail, which should help.
13345 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13346 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13347 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13348 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13349 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13350 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13351 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13352 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13353 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13354 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13355 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13357 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13358 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13362 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13363 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13365 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13366 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13367 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13369 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13370 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13371 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13372 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13375 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13376 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13377 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13378 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13379 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13380 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13384 @node Unix Mail Box
13385 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13387 @cindex unix mail box
13389 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13390 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13391 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13392 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13393 which group it belongs in.
13395 Virtual server settings:
13398 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13399 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13400 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13403 @item nnmbox-active-file
13404 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13405 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13406 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13408 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13409 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13410 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13411 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13416 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13420 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13421 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13422 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13423 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13424 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13426 Virtual server settings:
13429 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13430 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13431 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13433 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13434 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13435 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13436 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13438 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13439 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13440 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13446 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13448 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13450 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13451 format. It should be used with some caution.
13453 @vindex nnml-directory
13454 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13455 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13456 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13457 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13459 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13462 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13463 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13464 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13465 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13466 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13467 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13468 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13469 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13471 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13472 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13473 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13474 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13476 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13477 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13478 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13479 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13480 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13481 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13482 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13483 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13484 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13487 Virtual server settings:
13490 @item nnml-directory
13491 @vindex nnml-directory
13492 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13493 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13496 @item nnml-active-file
13497 @vindex nnml-active-file
13498 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13499 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13501 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13502 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13503 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13504 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13506 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13507 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13508 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13511 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13512 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13513 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13514 default is @code{nil}.
13516 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13517 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13518 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13520 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13521 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13522 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13524 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13525 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13526 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13527 default is @code{nil}.
13529 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13530 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13531 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13535 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13536 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13537 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13538 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13539 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13540 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13541 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13546 @subsubsection MH Spool
13548 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13550 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13551 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13552 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13553 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13555 Virtual server settings:
13558 @item nnmh-directory
13559 @vindex nnmh-directory
13560 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13561 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13564 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13565 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13566 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13570 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13571 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13572 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13573 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13574 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13575 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13576 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13581 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13583 @cindex mbox folders
13584 @cindex mail folders
13586 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13587 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13588 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13591 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13592 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13593 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13594 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13595 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13596 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13597 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13598 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13599 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13600 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13601 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13603 Virtual server settings:
13606 @item nnfolder-directory
13607 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13608 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13609 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13612 @item nnfolder-active-file
13613 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13614 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13616 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13617 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13618 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13619 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13621 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13622 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13623 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13626 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13627 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13628 @cindex backup files
13629 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13630 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13631 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13632 your @file{.emacs} file:
13635 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13636 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13638 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13641 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13642 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13643 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13644 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13645 extract some information from it before removing it.
13647 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13648 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13649 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13650 default is @code{nil}.
13652 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13653 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13654 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13656 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13657 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13658 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13659 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13661 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13662 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13663 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13664 default is @code{nil}.
13666 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13667 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13668 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13670 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13671 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13672 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13673 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13678 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13679 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13680 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13681 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13682 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13683 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13686 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13687 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13689 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13690 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13691 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13692 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13693 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13695 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13696 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13697 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13698 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13699 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13700 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13701 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13702 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13705 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13706 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13707 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13708 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13713 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13714 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13715 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13716 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13717 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13718 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13719 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13720 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13721 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13722 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13723 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13724 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13725 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13730 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13731 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13732 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13733 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13734 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13735 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13736 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13737 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13738 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13739 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13740 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13741 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13742 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13743 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13745 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13746 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13751 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13752 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13753 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13754 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13755 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13756 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13757 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13758 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13759 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13760 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13761 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13762 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13763 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13764 provided by the active file and overviews.
13766 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13767 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13768 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13769 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13770 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13773 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13774 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13779 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13780 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13781 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13782 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13783 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13784 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13785 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13789 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13790 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13791 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13792 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13793 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13794 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13795 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13796 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13797 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13799 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13800 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13801 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13802 friendly mail back end all over.
13807 @node Browsing the Web
13808 @section Browsing the Web
13810 @cindex browsing the web
13814 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13815 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13816 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13817 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13818 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13819 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13820 even know what a news group is.
13822 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
13823 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
13824 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
13825 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
13826 you mad in the end.
13828 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
13831 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
13832 interfaces to these sources.
13835 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
13836 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
13837 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13838 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13839 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13840 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13843 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13845 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13846 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13847 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
13848 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
13849 though, you should be ok.
13851 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13852 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13853 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13854 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13855 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13857 @node Archiving Mail
13858 @subsection Archiving Mail
13859 @cindex archiving mail
13860 @cindex backup of mail
13862 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
13863 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
13864 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
13866 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
13867 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
13870 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
13871 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
13872 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
13873 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
13874 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
13875 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
13876 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
13879 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
13880 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
13881 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
13882 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
13883 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
13884 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
13885 notice the new directory.
13888 @subsection Web Searches
13892 @cindex InReference
13893 @cindex Usenet searches
13894 @cindex searching the Usenet
13896 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13897 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13898 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13899 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13900 searches without having to use a browser.
13902 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13903 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13904 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13905 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13906 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13908 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13909 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13910 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13911 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13912 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13913 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13914 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13915 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13916 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13917 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13920 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13921 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13922 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13923 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13924 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13925 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13927 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13928 to use @code{nnweb}.
13930 Virtual server variables:
13935 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13936 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13940 @vindex nnweb-search
13941 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13943 @item nnweb-max-hits
13944 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13945 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13948 @item nnweb-type-definition
13949 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13950 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13951 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13956 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13960 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13963 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13966 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13970 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13977 @subsection Slashdot
13981 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13982 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13983 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13985 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13986 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13989 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13990 '((nnslashdot "")))
13993 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
13994 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13995 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13996 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13997 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14000 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14001 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14003 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14004 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14005 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14006 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14007 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14008 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14011 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14014 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14015 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14016 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14017 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14018 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14019 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14020 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14022 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14023 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14024 The login name to use when posting.
14026 @item nnslashdot-password
14027 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14028 The password to use when posting.
14030 @item nnslashdot-directory
14031 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14032 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14033 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14035 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14036 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14037 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14038 news articles and comments. The default is
14039 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14041 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14042 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14043 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14045 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14047 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14048 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14049 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14051 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14053 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14054 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14055 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14057 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14058 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14059 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14060 updated. The default is 0.
14067 @subsection Ultimate
14069 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14071 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14072 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14073 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14074 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14076 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14077 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14078 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14079 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14080 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14081 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14082 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14084 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14087 @item nnultimate-directory
14088 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14089 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14090 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14095 @subsection Web Archive
14097 @cindex Web Archive
14099 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14100 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14101 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14102 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14105 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14106 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14107 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14108 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14109 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14110 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14111 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14113 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14116 @item nnwarchive-directory
14117 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14118 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14119 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14121 @item nnwarchive-login
14122 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14123 The account name on the web server.
14125 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14126 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14127 The password for your account on the web server.
14135 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14136 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14137 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14140 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14141 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14144 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14147 @item nnrss-directory
14148 @vindex nnrss-directory
14149 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14150 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14154 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14155 the summary buffer.
14158 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14159 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14161 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14163 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14164 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14167 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14170 (require 'browse-url)
14172 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14174 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14177 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14178 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14180 (browse-url (cdr url))
14181 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14183 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14184 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14185 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14186 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14189 @node Customizing w3
14190 @subsection Customizing w3
14196 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14197 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14198 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14200 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14201 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14202 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14205 (eval-after-load "w3"
14207 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14208 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14209 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14210 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14212 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14215 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14216 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14224 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14225 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14226 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14227 specify the network address of the server.
14229 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14230 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14231 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14232 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14233 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14235 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14236 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14237 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14238 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14240 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14241 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14242 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14243 usage explained in this section.
14245 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14246 might look something like this:
14249 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14250 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14251 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14253 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14254 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14255 ; a UW server running on localhost
14257 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14258 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14259 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14260 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14261 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14262 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14263 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14264 (nnimap-stream network))
14265 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14267 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14268 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14269 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14272 (Note that for SSL/TLS to work, you need the external library
14273 @samp{ssl.el}, see below.)
14275 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14280 @item nnimap-address
14281 @vindex nnimap-address
14283 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14284 server name if not specified.
14286 @item nnimap-server-port
14287 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14288 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14290 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14293 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14294 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14297 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14298 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14299 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14300 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14301 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14302 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14303 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14305 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14306 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14307 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14310 Example server specification:
14313 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14314 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14315 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14318 @item nnimap-stream
14319 @vindex nnimap-stream
14320 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14321 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14322 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14323 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14325 Example server specification:
14328 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14329 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14332 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14336 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
14337 @samp{imtest} program.
14339 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14341 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14342 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14345 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14346 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14347 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14349 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14351 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14354 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14355 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14356 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14357 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14358 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14359 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14360 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14361 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14362 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14365 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14366 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14367 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14368 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14369 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14370 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14371 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14372 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14373 distribution, for instance).
14375 @vindex imap-shell-program
14376 @vindex imap-shell-host
14377 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14378 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14380 @item nnimap-authenticator
14381 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14383 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14384 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14386 Example server specification:
14389 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14390 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14393 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14397 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14398 external program @code{imtest}.
14400 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14403 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14404 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14406 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14408 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14410 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14413 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14415 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14416 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14417 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14418 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14419 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14420 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14423 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14424 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14425 running in circles yet?
14427 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14428 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14431 The possible options are:
14436 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14439 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14440 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14441 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14442 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14444 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14449 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14450 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14452 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14453 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14454 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14455 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14456 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14458 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14459 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14462 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14463 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14464 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14465 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14468 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14469 as ticked for other users.
14471 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14473 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14475 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14476 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14477 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14478 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14480 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14481 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14482 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14483 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14485 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14486 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14488 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14489 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14490 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14496 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14497 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14498 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14503 @node Splitting in IMAP
14504 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14505 @cindex splitting imap mail
14507 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14508 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14509 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14510 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14511 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14515 Here are the variables of interest:
14519 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14520 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14522 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14524 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14525 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14527 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14529 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14530 @cindex splitting, inbox
14532 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14534 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14535 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14539 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14540 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14543 No nnmail equivalent.
14545 @item nnimap-split-rule
14546 @cindex Splitting, rules
14547 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14549 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14552 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14553 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14554 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14555 Neither did I, we need examples.
14558 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14560 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14561 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14562 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14565 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14566 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14567 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14569 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14570 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14574 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14577 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14578 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14579 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14580 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14582 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14583 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14584 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14585 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14586 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14587 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14589 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14590 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14591 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14593 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14594 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14595 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14597 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
14599 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14600 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14601 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14604 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14605 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14606 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14607 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14608 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14609 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14612 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14613 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14614 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14615 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14616 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14617 group/function elements.
14619 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14621 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14623 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14625 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14626 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14628 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14629 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14630 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14633 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14634 @cindex splitting, fancy
14635 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14636 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14638 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14639 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14640 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14642 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14643 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14644 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14645 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14650 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14651 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14654 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14658 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14659 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14660 @cindex editing imap acls
14661 @cindex Access Control Lists
14662 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14664 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14666 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14667 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14668 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14671 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14672 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14673 editing window with detailed instructions.
14675 Some possible uses:
14679 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14680 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14681 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14683 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14684 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14685 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14689 @node Expunging mailboxes
14690 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14694 @cindex Manual expunging
14696 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14698 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14699 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14700 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14702 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14707 @node Other Sources
14708 @section Other Sources
14710 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14711 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14715 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14716 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14717 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14718 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14719 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14723 @node Directory Groups
14724 @subsection Directory Groups
14726 @cindex directory groups
14728 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14729 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14732 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14733 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14734 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14735 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14737 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14738 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14739 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14740 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14741 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14743 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14745 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14746 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14747 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14748 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14751 @node Anything Groups
14752 @subsection Anything Groups
14755 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14756 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14757 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14760 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14761 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14762 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14763 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14764 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14765 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14766 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14767 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14768 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14769 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14772 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14773 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14774 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14775 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14777 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14778 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14779 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14780 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14782 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14783 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14784 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14785 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14786 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14787 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14788 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14789 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14794 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14795 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14796 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14797 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14799 @item nneething-exclude-files
14800 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14801 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14802 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14804 @item nneething-include-files
14805 @vindex nneething-include-files
14806 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14807 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14809 @item nneething-map-file
14810 @vindex nneething-map-file
14811 Name of the map files.
14815 @node Document Groups
14816 @subsection Document Groups
14818 @cindex documentation group
14821 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
14822 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
14829 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
14834 The standard Unix mbox file.
14836 @cindex MMDF mail box
14838 The MMDF mail box format.
14841 Several news articles appended into a file.
14844 @cindex rnews batch files
14845 The rnews batch transport format.
14846 @cindex forwarded messages
14849 Forwarded articles.
14852 Netscape mail boxes.
14855 MIME multipart messages.
14857 @item standard-digest
14858 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
14861 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
14864 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
14865 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
14866 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
14869 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
14870 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
14871 group. And that's it.
14873 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
14874 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
14875 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
14876 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
14877 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
14878 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
14879 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
14880 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
14881 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
14882 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
14884 Virtual server variables:
14887 @item nndoc-article-type
14888 @vindex nndoc-article-type
14889 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
14890 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
14891 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
14892 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
14893 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
14895 @item nndoc-post-type
14896 @vindex nndoc-post-type
14897 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
14898 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
14903 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
14907 @node Document Server Internals
14908 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
14910 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
14911 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
14912 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
14913 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
14915 First, here's an example document type definition:
14919 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
14920 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
14923 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
14924 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
14925 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
14926 types can be defined with very few settings:
14929 @item first-article
14930 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
14931 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
14934 @item article-begin
14935 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
14936 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
14938 @item head-begin-function
14939 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
14942 @item nndoc-head-begin
14943 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
14946 @item nndoc-head-end
14947 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
14948 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
14950 @item body-begin-function
14951 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
14955 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
14958 @item body-end-function
14959 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
14963 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
14966 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
14967 regexp will be totally ignored.
14971 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
14972 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
14973 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
14974 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
14975 something that's palatable for Gnus:
14978 @item prepare-body-function
14979 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
14980 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
14981 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
14983 @item article-transform-function
14984 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
14985 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
14986 body of the article.
14988 @item generate-head-function
14989 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
14990 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
14991 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
14992 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
14996 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15001 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15002 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15003 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15004 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15005 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15006 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15007 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15008 (subtype digest guess))
15011 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15012 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15013 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15014 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15015 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15017 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15018 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15019 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15020 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15021 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15022 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15023 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15024 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15025 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15026 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15034 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15035 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15036 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15038 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15039 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15040 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15043 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15044 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15045 that interested in doing things properly.
15047 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15048 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15051 First some terminology:
15056 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15057 get news and/or mail from.
15060 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15061 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15064 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15068 @item message packets
15069 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15070 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15071 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15073 @item response packets
15074 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15075 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15076 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15086 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15087 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15088 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15089 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15092 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15095 You put the packet in your home directory.
15098 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15099 the native or secondary server.
15102 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15103 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15106 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15110 You transfer this packet to the server.
15113 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15116 You then repeat until you die.
15120 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15121 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15124 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15125 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15126 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15130 @node SOUP Commands
15131 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15133 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15137 @kindex G s b (Group)
15138 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15139 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15140 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15141 process/prefix convention.
15144 @kindex G s w (Group)
15145 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15146 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15149 @kindex G s s (Group)
15150 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15151 Send all replies from the replies packet
15152 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15155 @kindex G s p (Group)
15156 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15157 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15160 @kindex G s r (Group)
15161 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15162 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15165 @kindex O s (Summary)
15166 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15167 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15168 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15169 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15174 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15179 @item gnus-soup-directory
15180 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15181 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15182 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15184 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15185 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15186 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15187 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15189 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15190 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15191 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15192 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15194 @item gnus-soup-packer
15195 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15196 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15197 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15199 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15200 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15201 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15202 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15204 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15205 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15206 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15208 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15209 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15210 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15211 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15217 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15220 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15221 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15222 you can read them at leisure.
15224 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15228 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15229 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15230 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15231 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15233 @item nnsoup-directory
15234 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15235 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15236 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15238 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15239 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15240 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15241 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15243 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15244 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15245 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15246 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15247 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15249 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15250 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15251 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15252 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15254 @item nnsoup-active-file
15255 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15256 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15257 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15258 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15259 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15261 @item nnsoup-packer
15262 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15263 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15264 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15266 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15267 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15268 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15269 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15271 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15272 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15273 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15276 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15277 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15278 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15281 @item nnsoup-always-save
15282 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15283 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15289 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15291 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15292 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15293 more for that to happen.
15295 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15296 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15297 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15300 In specific, this is what it does:
15303 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15304 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15307 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15308 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15309 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15312 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15313 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15314 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15317 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15318 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15319 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15321 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15327 @item nngateway-address
15328 @vindex nngateway-address
15329 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15331 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15332 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15333 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15334 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15335 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15336 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15337 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15340 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15341 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15342 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15345 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15348 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15351 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15354 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15356 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15359 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15360 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15361 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15363 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15365 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15366 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15367 @code{nngateway-address}.
15372 (setq gnus-post-method
15374 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15375 (nngateway-header-transformation
15376 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15384 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15387 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15392 @node Combined Groups
15393 @section Combined Groups
15395 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15399 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15400 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15404 @node Virtual Groups
15405 @subsection Virtual Groups
15407 @cindex virtual groups
15408 @cindex merging groups
15410 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15413 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15414 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15415 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15417 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15418 regexp to match component groups.
15420 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15421 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15422 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15423 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15424 the virtual group.)
15426 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15427 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15430 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15433 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15434 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15436 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15437 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15438 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15439 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15442 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15445 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15446 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15447 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15449 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15450 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15451 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15452 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15453 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15455 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15456 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15457 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15459 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15460 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15461 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15462 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15463 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15464 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15465 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15466 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15467 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15468 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15469 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15471 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15472 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15473 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15474 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15475 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15476 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15477 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15479 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15480 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15484 @node Kibozed Groups
15485 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15489 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15490 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15491 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15492 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15494 @kindex G k (Group)
15495 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15498 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15499 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15500 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15501 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15503 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15504 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15505 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15507 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15508 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15509 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15510 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15511 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15512 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15513 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15514 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15516 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15517 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15518 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15519 Stranger things have happened.
15521 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15522 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15524 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15525 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15526 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15527 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15528 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15529 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15531 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15532 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15535 @node Gnus Unplugged
15536 @section Gnus Unplugged
15541 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15543 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15544 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15545 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15546 read news. Believe it or not.
15548 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15549 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15550 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15551 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15552 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15554 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15555 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15556 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15557 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15558 reading news on a machine.
15560 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15564 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15565 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15569 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15570 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15577 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15579 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15582 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15583 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15584 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15585 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15586 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15587 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15588 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15589 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15590 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15591 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15596 @subsection Agent Basics
15598 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15600 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15601 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15602 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15603 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15605 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15606 connected to the net continuously.
15608 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15609 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15611 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15616 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15617 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15618 already fetched while in this mode.
15621 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15622 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15623 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15624 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15625 Source Specifiers}).
15628 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15629 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15630 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15631 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15632 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15635 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15636 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15637 then you read the news offline.
15640 And then you go to step 2.
15643 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15649 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15650 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15651 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15652 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15653 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15654 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15657 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15664 @node Agent Categories
15665 @subsection Agent Categories
15667 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15668 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15669 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15670 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15671 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15672 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15673 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15675 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15676 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15677 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15678 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15679 managing categories.
15682 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15683 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15684 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15688 @node Category Syntax
15689 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15691 A category consists of two things.
15695 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15696 are eligible for downloading; and
15699 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15700 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15701 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15704 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15705 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15706 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15707 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15709 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15710 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15711 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15713 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15714 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15715 operators sprinkled in between.
15717 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15719 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15720 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15726 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15727 short (for some value of ``short'').
15729 Here's a more complex predicate:
15738 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15739 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15742 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15743 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15744 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15746 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15747 you want to do, you can write your own.
15751 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15752 lines; default 100.
15755 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15756 lines; default 200.
15759 True iff the article has a download score less than
15760 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15763 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15764 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15767 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15768 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15769 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15778 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15779 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15780 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15783 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15784 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15785 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15786 something along the lines of the following:
15789 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15790 "Say whether an article is old."
15791 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15792 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15795 with the predicate then defined as:
15798 (not my-article-old-p)
15801 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15802 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15803 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15804 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15807 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15808 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15809 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15812 and simply specify your predicate as:
15818 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
15819 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
15820 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
15821 just don't give a damn.
15823 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
15824 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
15825 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
15826 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
15827 parameters like so:
15830 (agent-predicate . short)
15833 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
15834 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
15835 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
15837 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
15840 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
15843 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
15844 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
15845 predicate is assumed to be a list.
15848 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
15849 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
15850 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
15851 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
15852 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
15853 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
15855 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
15856 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
15857 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
15858 if it's to be specific to that group.
15860 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
15867 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
15868 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
15874 Category specification
15878 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15884 Group Parameter specification
15887 (agent-score ("from"
15888 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15893 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
15899 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
15906 Category specification
15909 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
15915 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
15919 Group Parameter specification
15922 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
15925 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
15930 Use @code{normal} score files
15932 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
15933 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15934 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15935 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15937 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15938 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15939 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15940 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15944 Category Specification
15951 Group Parameter specification
15954 (agent-score . file)
15959 @node Category Buffer
15960 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15962 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15963 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15964 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15966 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15970 @kindex q (Category)
15971 @findex gnus-category-exit
15972 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15975 @kindex k (Category)
15976 @findex gnus-category-kill
15977 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15980 @kindex c (Category)
15981 @findex gnus-category-copy
15982 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15985 @kindex a (Category)
15986 @findex gnus-category-add
15987 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15990 @kindex p (Category)
15991 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15992 Edit the predicate of the current category
15993 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15996 @kindex g (Category)
15997 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15998 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15999 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16002 @kindex s (Category)
16003 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16004 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16005 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16008 @kindex l (Category)
16009 @findex gnus-category-list
16010 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16014 @node Category Variables
16015 @subsubsection Category Variables
16018 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16019 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16020 Hook run in category buffers.
16022 @item gnus-category-line-format
16023 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16024 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16025 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16029 The name of the category.
16032 The number of groups in the category.
16035 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16036 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16037 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16039 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16040 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16041 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16043 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16044 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16045 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16047 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16048 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16049 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16052 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16053 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16054 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16060 @node Agent Commands
16061 @subsection Agent Commands
16063 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16064 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16065 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16069 * Group Agent Commands::
16070 * Summary Agent Commands::
16071 * Server Agent Commands::
16074 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
16075 following incantation:
16077 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16079 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16084 @node Group Agent Commands
16085 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16089 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16090 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16091 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16092 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16095 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16096 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16097 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16100 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16101 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16102 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16103 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16106 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16107 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16108 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16109 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16112 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16113 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16114 Add the current group to an Agent category
16115 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16116 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16119 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16120 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16121 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16122 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16123 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16126 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16127 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16128 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16134 @node Summary Agent Commands
16135 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16139 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16140 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16141 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16144 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16145 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16146 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16147 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16150 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16151 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16152 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16155 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16156 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16157 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16160 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16161 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16162 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16163 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16168 @node Server Agent Commands
16169 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16173 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16174 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16175 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16176 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16179 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16180 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16181 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16182 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16188 @subsection Agent Expiry
16190 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16191 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16192 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16193 @cindex Agent expiry
16194 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16197 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16198 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16199 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16200 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16201 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16202 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16204 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16205 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16206 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16207 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16208 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16211 @node Agent and IMAP
16212 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16214 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16215 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16216 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16217 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16219 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16220 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16221 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16222 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16224 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16225 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16226 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16227 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16228 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16230 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16231 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16232 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16233 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16234 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16235 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16237 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16238 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16239 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16240 in the group buffer by default.
16242 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16243 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16248 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16251 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16255 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16256 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16257 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16258 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16259 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16260 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16261 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16262 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16265 @node Outgoing Messages
16266 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16268 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16269 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16270 after posting, and edit them at will.
16272 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16273 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16274 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16275 messages in the draft group.
16279 @node Agent Variables
16280 @subsection Agent Variables
16283 @item gnus-agent-directory
16284 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16285 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16286 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16288 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16289 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16290 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16291 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16292 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16295 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16296 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16297 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16299 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16300 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16301 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16306 @node Example Setup
16307 @subsection Example Setup
16309 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16310 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16311 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16314 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16315 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16316 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16318 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16319 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16320 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16322 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16323 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16325 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16329 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16330 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16333 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16334 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16335 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16336 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16337 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16340 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16341 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16342 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16343 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16344 back all the killed groups.)
16346 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16347 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16348 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16351 @node Batching Agents
16352 @subsection Batching Agents
16354 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16355 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16356 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16360 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16364 @node Agent Caveats
16365 @subsection Agent Caveats
16367 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16368 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16372 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16377 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16378 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16384 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16385 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16392 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16393 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16394 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16397 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16398 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16399 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16400 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16401 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16403 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16404 before generating the summary buffer.
16406 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16407 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16408 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16410 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16411 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16412 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16413 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16416 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16417 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16418 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16419 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16420 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16421 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16422 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16423 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16424 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16425 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16426 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16427 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16428 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16429 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16430 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16431 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16432 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16436 @node Summary Score Commands
16437 @section Summary Score Commands
16438 @cindex score commands
16440 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16441 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16442 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16443 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16444 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16446 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16447 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16448 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16449 score file the current one.
16451 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16456 @kindex V s (Summary)
16457 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16458 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16461 @kindex V S (Summary)
16462 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16463 Display the score of the current article
16464 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16467 @kindex V t (Summary)
16468 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16469 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16470 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16473 @kindex V R (Summary)
16474 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16475 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16476 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16477 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16478 effect you're having.
16481 @kindex V c (Summary)
16482 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16483 Make a different score file the current
16484 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16487 @kindex V e (Summary)
16488 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16489 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16490 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16494 @kindex V f (Summary)
16495 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16496 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16497 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16500 @kindex V F (Summary)
16501 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16502 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16503 after editing score files.
16506 @kindex V C (Summary)
16507 @findex gnus-score-customize
16508 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16509 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16513 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16518 @kindex V m (Summary)
16519 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16520 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16521 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16524 @kindex V x (Summary)
16525 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16526 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16527 expunge all articles below this score
16528 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16531 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16532 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16535 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16536 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16540 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16541 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16543 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16544 keys are available:
16548 Score on the author name.
16551 Score on the subject line.
16554 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16557 Score on the @code{References} line.
16563 Score on the number of lines.
16566 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16569 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16570 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16571 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16580 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16586 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16587 what headers you are scoring on.
16599 Substring matching.
16602 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16631 Greater than number.
16636 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16637 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16638 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16642 Temporary score entry.
16645 Permanent score entry.
16648 Immediately scoring.
16653 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16654 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16655 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16656 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16658 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16659 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16660 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16661 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16662 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16664 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16665 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16666 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16667 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16668 current score file.
16670 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16671 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16672 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16675 @node Group Score Commands
16676 @section Group Score Commands
16677 @cindex group score commands
16679 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16684 @kindex W f (Group)
16685 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16686 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16687 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16688 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16692 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16694 @findex gnus-batch-score
16695 @cindex batch scoring
16697 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16701 @node Score Variables
16702 @section Score Variables
16703 @cindex score variables
16707 @item gnus-use-scoring
16708 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16709 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16710 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16712 @item gnus-kill-killed
16713 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16714 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16715 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16716 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16717 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16718 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16719 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16721 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16722 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16723 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16724 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16725 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16727 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16728 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16729 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16730 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16732 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16733 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16734 @cindex score cache
16735 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16736 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16737 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
16738 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16739 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16740 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16743 @item gnus-save-score
16744 @vindex gnus-save-score
16745 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16746 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16747 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16749 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16750 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16751 across group visits.
16753 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16754 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16755 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16756 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16757 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16758 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16759 manually entered data.
16761 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16762 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16763 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16765 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16766 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16767 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16768 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16769 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16770 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16772 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16773 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16774 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16775 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16777 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16778 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16779 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16780 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16782 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16783 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16784 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16785 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16787 Predefined functions available are:
16790 @item gnus-score-find-single
16791 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16792 Only apply the group's own score file.
16794 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16795 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16796 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16797 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16798 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16799 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16800 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16801 then a regexp match is done.
16803 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16804 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16806 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16807 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16808 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16809 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16811 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16812 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16813 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
16814 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
16815 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
16819 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
16820 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
16821 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
16822 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
16823 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
16824 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
16825 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
16828 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
16829 overall score file, you could use the value
16831 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
16832 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
16835 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
16836 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
16837 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
16838 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
16839 are expired. It's 7 by default.
16841 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16842 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16843 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
16844 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
16845 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
16846 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
16847 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
16850 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16851 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16852 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
16854 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
16855 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
16856 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
16857 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
16858 threading---according to the current value of
16859 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
16860 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
16861 simplified in this manner.
16866 @node Score File Format
16867 @section Score File Format
16868 @cindex score file format
16870 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
16871 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
16872 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
16874 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
16878 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
16880 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
16882 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
16884 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
16889 (mark-and-expunge -10)
16893 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
16894 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
16895 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
16896 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
16900 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
16901 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
16903 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
16904 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
16905 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
16907 Six keys are supported by this alist:
16912 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
16913 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
16914 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
16915 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
16916 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
16917 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
16918 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
16919 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
16920 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
16921 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
16922 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
16923 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
16924 to articles that matches these score entries.
16926 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
16927 score entry has one to four elements.
16931 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
16932 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
16936 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
16937 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
16938 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
16939 is successful. If this element is not present, the
16940 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
16941 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16944 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16945 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16946 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16947 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16948 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16951 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16952 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16953 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16954 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16957 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16958 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16959 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16960 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16961 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16962 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16963 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16964 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16965 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16966 instead, if you feel like.
16969 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16970 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16972 These predicates are true if
16975 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16978 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16979 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16986 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16987 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16988 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16989 it's not. I think.)
16991 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
16992 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16993 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16994 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16997 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16998 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16999 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17000 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17001 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17002 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17003 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17007 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17008 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17009 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17010 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17011 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17012 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17013 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17014 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17017 @item Head, Body, All
17018 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17022 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17023 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17024 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17025 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17026 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17027 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17028 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17032 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17033 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17034 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17035 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17036 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17037 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17038 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17039 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17040 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17041 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17042 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17046 @cindex Score File Atoms
17048 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17049 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17052 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17053 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17055 @item mark-and-expunge
17056 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17057 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17060 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17061 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17062 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17063 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17064 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17067 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17068 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17071 @item exclude-files
17072 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17073 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17077 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17078 ignored when handling global score files.
17081 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17082 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17083 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17084 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17087 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17088 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17089 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17090 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17092 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17096 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17099 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17100 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17101 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17102 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17103 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17105 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17106 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17107 scoring rules exist.
17110 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17111 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17112 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17113 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17114 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17115 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17116 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17117 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17118 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17119 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17120 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17124 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17125 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17126 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17127 file for a number of groups.
17130 @cindex local variables
17131 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17132 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17133 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17134 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17135 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17139 @node Score File Editing
17140 @section Score File Editing
17142 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17143 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17144 with a mode for that.
17146 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17147 additional commands:
17152 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17153 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17154 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17155 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17158 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17159 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17160 Insert the current date in numerical format
17161 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17162 you were wondering.
17165 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17166 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17167 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17168 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17169 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17174 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17176 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17177 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17179 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17180 e} to begin editing score files.
17183 @node Adaptive Scoring
17184 @section Adaptive Scoring
17185 @cindex adaptive scoring
17187 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17188 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17189 stupidity, to be precise.
17191 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17192 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17193 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17194 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17195 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17196 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17197 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17198 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17199 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17201 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17202 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17203 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17204 might look something like this:
17207 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17208 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17209 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17210 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17211 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17212 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17213 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17214 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17215 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17216 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17217 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17218 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17221 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17222 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17223 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17224 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17225 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17226 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17229 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17230 will be applied to each article.
17232 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17233 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17234 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17235 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17237 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17238 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17239 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17240 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17242 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17243 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17244 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17245 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17247 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17248 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17249 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17250 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17251 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17252 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17254 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17255 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17256 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17257 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17258 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17259 aspirins afterwards.)
17261 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17262 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17263 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17265 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17266 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17267 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17269 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17270 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17271 let you use different rules in different groups.
17273 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17274 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17275 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17278 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17279 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17280 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17281 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17282 the length of the match is less than
17283 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17284 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17287 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17288 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17289 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17290 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17291 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17294 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17295 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17296 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17297 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17298 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17301 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17302 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17303 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17304 score with 30 points.
17306 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17307 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17308 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17309 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17310 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17312 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17313 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17314 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17315 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17316 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17318 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17319 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17320 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17321 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17323 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17324 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17325 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17326 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17328 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17329 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17330 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17331 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17332 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17334 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17335 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17336 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17338 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17339 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17340 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17341 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17344 @node Home Score File
17345 @section Home Score File
17347 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17348 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17349 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17350 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17352 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17353 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17354 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17356 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17357 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17362 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17366 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17367 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17371 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17375 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17376 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17379 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17380 the home score file.
17383 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17386 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17391 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17394 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17395 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17398 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17399 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17401 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17403 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17404 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17407 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17408 Other functions include
17411 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17412 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17413 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17414 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17418 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17419 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17420 their own home score files:
17423 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17424 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17425 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17426 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17427 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17430 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17431 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17432 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17433 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17434 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17436 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17437 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17438 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17439 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17440 precedence over this variable.
17443 @node Followups To Yourself
17444 @section Followups To Yourself
17446 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17447 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17448 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17449 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17450 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17451 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17455 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17456 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17457 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17460 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17461 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17462 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17466 @vindex message-sent-hook
17467 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17468 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17470 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17474 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17475 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17479 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17480 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17483 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17484 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17489 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17493 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17494 is system-dependent.
17497 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17498 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17499 @cindex scoring on other headers
17501 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17502 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17503 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17504 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17505 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17507 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17508 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17509 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17510 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17511 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17513 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17516 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17517 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17520 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17521 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17522 time if you have much mail.
17524 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17525 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17531 @section Scoring Tips
17532 @cindex scoring tips
17538 @cindex scoring crossposts
17539 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17540 the @code{Xref} header.
17542 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17545 @item Multiple crossposts
17546 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17547 more than, say, 3 groups:
17550 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17554 @item Matching on the body
17555 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17556 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17557 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17558 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17559 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17560 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17561 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17564 @item Marking as read
17565 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17566 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17567 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17571 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17573 @item Negated character classes
17574 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17575 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17576 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17580 @node Reverse Scoring
17581 @section Reverse Scoring
17582 @cindex reverse scoring
17584 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17585 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17586 like this in your score file:
17590 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17595 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17596 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17599 @node Global Score Files
17600 @section Global Score Files
17601 @cindex global score files
17603 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17604 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17605 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17607 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17608 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17609 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17611 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17612 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17613 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17614 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17615 files are applicable to which group.
17617 To use the score file
17618 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17619 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17623 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17624 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17625 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17628 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17630 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17631 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17632 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17633 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17635 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17636 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17638 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17639 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17640 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17641 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17642 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17643 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17645 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17651 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17653 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17655 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17657 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17658 lowered out of existence.
17660 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17661 articles completely.
17664 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17665 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17666 old articles for a long time.
17669 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17670 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17671 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17672 holding our breath yet?
17676 @section Kill Files
17679 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17680 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17681 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17683 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17684 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17685 files into score files.
17687 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17688 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17689 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17690 that isn't a very good idea.
17692 Normal kill files look like this:
17695 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17696 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17700 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17701 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17703 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17704 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17707 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17712 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17713 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17714 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17717 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17718 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17719 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17722 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17727 @kindex M-k (Group)
17728 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17729 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17732 @kindex M-K (Group)
17733 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17734 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17737 Kill file variables:
17740 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17741 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17742 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17743 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17744 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17745 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17746 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17748 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17749 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17750 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17751 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17754 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17755 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17756 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17757 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17758 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17759 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17760 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17761 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17762 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17764 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17765 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17766 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17771 @node Converting Kill Files
17772 @section Converting Kill Files
17774 @cindex converting kill files
17776 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17777 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17778 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17781 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17782 You can fetch it from
17783 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17785 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17786 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17787 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17795 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17796 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17797 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17798 news articles generated every day.
17800 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17801 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17802 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17803 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17804 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17805 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17806 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17807 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17810 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
17811 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
17814 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
17815 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
17816 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
17817 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
17821 @node Using GroupLens
17822 @subsection Using GroupLens
17824 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
17826 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
17827 better bit in town at the moment.
17829 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
17833 @item gnus-use-grouplens
17834 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
17835 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
17836 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
17838 @item grouplens-pseudonym
17839 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
17840 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
17841 with the Better Bit Bureau.
17843 @item grouplens-newsgroups
17844 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
17845 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
17849 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
17850 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
17851 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
17852 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
17853 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
17854 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
17857 @node Rating Articles
17858 @subsection Rating Articles
17860 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
17861 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
17862 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
17863 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
17866 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
17871 @kindex r (GroupLens)
17872 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
17873 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
17876 @kindex k (GroupLens)
17877 @findex grouplens-score-thread
17878 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
17879 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
17880 threads in rec.humor.
17884 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
17885 the score of the article you're reading.
17890 @kindex n (GroupLens)
17891 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
17892 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
17895 @kindex , (GroupLens)
17896 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
17897 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
17901 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
17902 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
17905 @node Displaying Predictions
17906 @subsection Displaying Predictions
17908 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
17909 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
17910 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
17911 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
17912 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
17914 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
17915 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
17916 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
17917 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
17918 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
17919 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
17920 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
17921 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
17922 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
17923 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
17924 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
17925 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
17926 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
17928 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
17929 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
17930 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
17931 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
17933 The following are valid values for that variable.
17936 @item prediction-spot
17937 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
17940 @item confidence-interval
17941 A numeric confidence interval.
17943 @item prediction-bar
17944 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
17946 @item confidence-bar
17947 Numerical confidence.
17949 @item confidence-spot
17950 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
17952 @item prediction-num
17953 Plain-old numeric value.
17955 @item confidence-plus-minus
17956 Prediction +/- confidence.
17961 @node GroupLens Variables
17962 @subsection GroupLens Variables
17966 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
17967 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
17968 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
17969 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
17972 @item grouplens-bbb-host
17973 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
17976 @item grouplens-bbb-port
17977 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
17979 @item grouplens-score-offset
17980 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17981 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17984 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17985 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17986 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17991 @node Advanced Scoring
17992 @section Advanced Scoring
17994 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17995 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17996 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17997 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17998 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18000 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18004 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18005 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18006 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18010 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18011 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18013 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18014 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18015 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18016 non-@code{nil} value.
18018 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18019 operator, and various match operators.
18026 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18027 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18028 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18033 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18034 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18035 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18040 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18041 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18045 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18046 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18047 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18048 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18049 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18050 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18051 the ancestry you want to go.
18053 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18054 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18055 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18056 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18057 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18060 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18061 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18063 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18064 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18067 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18068 when he's talking about Gnus:
18072 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18073 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18079 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18083 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18090 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18091 really don't want to read what he's written:
18095 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18096 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18100 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18101 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18102 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18109 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18110 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18111 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18112 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18116 The possibilities are endless.
18119 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18120 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18122 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18123 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18124 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18125 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18126 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18127 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18128 @samp{subject}) first.
18130 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18131 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18142 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18143 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18149 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18156 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18157 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18162 @section Score Decays
18163 @cindex score decays
18166 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18167 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18168 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18169 use them in any sensible way.
18171 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18172 @findex gnus-decay-score
18173 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18174 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18175 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18176 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18177 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18178 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18179 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18180 definition of that function:
18183 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18185 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18186 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18189 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18191 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18193 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18196 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18197 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18198 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18199 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18203 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18206 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18209 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18213 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18214 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18215 the new score, which should be an integer.
18217 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18218 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18223 @include message.texi
18224 @chapter Emacs MIME
18225 @include emacs-mime.texi
18227 @include sieve.texi
18235 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18236 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18237 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18238 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18239 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18240 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18241 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18242 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18243 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18244 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18245 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18246 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18247 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18248 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18249 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18250 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18251 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18252 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18256 @node Process/Prefix
18257 @section Process/Prefix
18258 @cindex process/prefix convention
18260 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18261 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18263 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18264 command to be performed on.
18268 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18269 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18270 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18271 with the current one.
18273 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18274 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18275 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18277 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18278 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18281 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18282 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18284 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18287 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18288 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18289 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18290 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18292 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18293 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18294 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18295 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18296 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18297 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18298 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18299 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18301 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18302 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18303 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18304 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18305 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18309 @section Interactive
18310 @cindex interaction
18314 @item gnus-novice-user
18315 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18316 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18317 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18318 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18319 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18322 @item gnus-expert-user
18323 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18324 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18325 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18326 matter how strange.
18328 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18329 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18330 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18331 is @code{t} by default.
18333 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18334 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18335 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18340 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18341 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18342 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18344 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18345 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18346 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18347 rule of 900 to the current article.
18349 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18350 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18351 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18352 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18353 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18354 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18355 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18357 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18358 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18359 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18360 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18361 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18362 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
18363 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
18364 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18365 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18367 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18368 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18369 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18371 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18375 @node Formatting Variables
18376 @section Formatting Variables
18377 @cindex formatting variables
18379 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18380 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18381 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18382 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18383 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18386 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18387 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18388 lots of percentages everywhere.
18391 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18392 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18393 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18394 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18395 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18396 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18397 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18398 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18401 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18402 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18403 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18404 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18405 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18406 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18407 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18408 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18410 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18411 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18413 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18414 @findex gnus-update-format
18415 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18416 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18417 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18418 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18422 @node Formatting Basics
18423 @subsection Formatting Basics
18425 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18426 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18427 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18429 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18430 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18431 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18432 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18433 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18436 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18437 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18438 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18439 less than 4 characters wide.
18441 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18442 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18444 @node Mode Line Formatting
18445 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18447 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18448 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18449 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18450 with the following two differences:
18455 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18458 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18459 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18460 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18461 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18462 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18463 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18464 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18469 @node Advanced Formatting
18470 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18472 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18473 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18474 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18475 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18477 These are the valid modifiers:
18482 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18486 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18491 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18494 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18499 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18502 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18505 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18508 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18512 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18513 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18514 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18515 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18516 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18517 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18518 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18520 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18521 last operation, padding.
18523 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
18524 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
18525 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
18526 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
18527 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
18528 the look of your lines.
18529 @xref{Compilation}.
18532 @node User-Defined Specs
18533 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18535 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18536 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18537 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18538 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18539 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18540 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18541 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18542 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18543 should protect against that.
18545 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18546 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18548 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18549 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18550 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18551 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18555 @node Formatting Fonts
18556 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18558 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18559 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18560 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18561 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18564 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18565 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18566 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18567 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18568 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18569 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18571 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18572 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18573 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18574 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18575 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18576 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18577 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18578 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18580 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18583 ;; Create three face types.
18584 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18585 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18587 ;; We want the article count to be in
18588 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18589 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18590 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18592 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18593 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18595 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18596 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18597 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18600 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18601 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18603 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18604 mode-line variables.
18606 @node Positioning Point
18607 @subsection Positioning Point
18609 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18610 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18611 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18613 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18615 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18616 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18617 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18619 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18620 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18621 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18626 @subsection Tabulation
18628 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18629 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18630 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18631 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18633 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18634 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18636 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18637 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18638 This is the soft tabulator.
18640 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18641 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18642 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18645 @node Wide Characters
18646 @subsection Wide Characters
18648 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18649 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18650 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18652 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18653 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18654 these coutries, that's not true.
18656 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18657 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18658 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18659 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18663 @node Window Layout
18664 @section Window Layout
18665 @cindex window layout
18667 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18669 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18670 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18671 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18672 @code{t} by default.
18674 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18675 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18677 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18678 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18679 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18682 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18683 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18684 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18688 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18689 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18690 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18691 possible names is listed below.
18693 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18694 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18697 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18701 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18702 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18703 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18704 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18705 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18706 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18707 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18708 size spec per split.
18710 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18711 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18712 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18713 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18714 present) gets focus.
18716 Here's a more complicated example:
18719 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18720 (summary 0.25 point)
18721 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18725 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18726 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18727 occupy, not a percentage.
18729 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18730 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18731 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18732 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18733 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18736 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18739 (article (horizontal 1.0
18744 (summary 0.25 point)
18749 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18750 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18752 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18753 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18754 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18755 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18756 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18758 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18759 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18760 lines from the splits.
18762 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18766 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18767 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18768 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18769 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18770 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18771 size = number | frame-params
18772 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18775 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18776 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18777 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18778 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18780 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18781 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18782 @cindex window height
18783 @cindex window width
18784 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18785 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18786 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18787 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18788 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18789 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18791 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18792 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
18793 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
18794 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
18796 @findex gnus-configure-frame
18797 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
18798 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
18799 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
18800 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
18801 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
18802 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
18803 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
18804 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
18805 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
18806 configuration list.
18809 (gnus-configure-frame
18813 (article 0.3 point))
18821 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
18822 @code{frame} split:
18825 (gnus-configure-frame
18828 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
18830 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
18831 (user-position . t)
18832 (left . -1) (top . 1))
18837 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
18838 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
18839 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
18840 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
18841 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
18842 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
18843 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
18844 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
18846 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
18847 be found in its default value.
18849 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
18850 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
18851 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
18855 (message (horizontal 1.0
18856 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
18858 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
18863 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
18864 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
18865 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
18870 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
18871 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
18872 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
18873 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
18874 (name . "Message"))
18875 (message 1.0 point))))
18878 @findex gnus-add-configuration
18879 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
18880 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
18881 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
18882 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
18885 (gnus-add-configuration
18886 '(article (vertical 1.0
18888 (summary .25 point)
18892 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
18893 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
18894 Gnus has been loaded.
18896 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
18897 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
18898 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
18899 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
18900 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
18902 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
18903 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
18904 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
18907 @subsection Example Window Configurations
18911 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
18912 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
18927 (gnus-add-configuration
18930 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18932 (summary 0.16 point)
18935 (gnus-add-configuration
18938 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18939 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
18945 @node Faces and Fonts
18946 @section Faces and Fonts
18951 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
18952 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
18953 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
18958 @section Compilation
18959 @cindex compilation
18960 @cindex byte-compilation
18962 @findex gnus-compile
18964 Remember all those line format specification variables?
18965 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
18966 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
18967 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
18968 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
18969 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
18970 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
18971 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
18974 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
18975 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
18976 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
18977 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
18978 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18981 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
18982 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
18983 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
18984 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
18985 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
18990 @section Mode Lines
18993 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
18994 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
18995 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
18996 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
18997 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
18998 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
18999 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19002 @cindex display-time
19004 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19005 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19006 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19007 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19008 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19009 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19010 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19011 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19014 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19016 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19017 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19019 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19020 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19021 (length display-time-string)))))
19024 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19025 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19026 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19027 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19028 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19031 @node Highlighting and Menus
19032 @section Highlighting and Menus
19034 @cindex highlighting
19037 @vindex gnus-visual
19038 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19039 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19040 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19043 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19044 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19047 @item group-highlight
19048 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19049 @item summary-highlight
19050 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19051 @item article-highlight
19052 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19054 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19056 Create menus in the group buffer.
19058 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19060 Create menus in the article buffer.
19062 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19064 Create menus in the server buffer.
19066 Create menus in the score buffers.
19068 Create menus in all buffers.
19071 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19072 buffers, you could say something like:
19075 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19078 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19081 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19084 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19085 in all Gnus buffers.
19087 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19090 @item gnus-mouse-face
19091 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19092 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19093 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19097 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19101 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19102 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19103 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19105 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19106 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19107 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19109 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19110 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19111 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19113 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19114 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19115 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19117 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19118 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19119 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19121 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19122 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19123 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19134 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19135 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19136 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19137 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19138 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19142 @vindex gnus-carpal
19143 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19144 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19145 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19150 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19151 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19152 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19154 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19155 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19156 Face used on buttons.
19158 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19159 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19160 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19162 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19163 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19164 Buttons in the group buffer.
19166 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19167 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19168 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19170 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19171 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19172 Buttons in the server buffer.
19174 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19175 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19176 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19179 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19180 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19181 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19189 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19190 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19191 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19192 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19193 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19195 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19196 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19197 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19199 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19200 been idle for thirty minutes:
19203 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19206 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19210 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19213 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19214 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19215 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19217 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19218 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19219 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19220 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19222 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19223 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19224 @var{idle} minutes.
19226 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19227 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19230 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19231 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19232 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19234 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19235 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19236 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19237 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19239 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19240 your @file{.gnus} file:
19242 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19244 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19247 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19248 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19249 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19250 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19251 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19252 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19253 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19254 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19255 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19256 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19257 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19259 @findex gnus-demon-init
19260 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19261 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19262 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19263 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19264 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19266 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19267 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19268 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19277 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19278 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19280 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19281 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19282 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19283 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19286 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19287 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19288 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19289 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19291 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19292 this will make spam disappear.
19294 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19297 @item gnus-use-nocem
19298 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19299 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19302 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19303 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19304 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19305 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19306 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19308 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19309 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19310 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19311 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19312 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19313 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19315 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19316 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19318 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19319 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19320 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19321 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19322 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19323 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19324 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19325 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19326 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19327 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19329 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19330 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19333 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19336 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19337 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19340 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19343 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19346 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19347 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19349 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19350 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19351 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19352 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19354 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19355 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19358 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19360 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19368 This might be dangerous, though.
19370 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19371 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19372 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19373 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19375 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19376 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19377 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19378 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19379 might then see old spam.
19381 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19382 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19383 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19384 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19385 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19388 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19389 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19390 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19391 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19395 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19396 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19397 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19398 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19405 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19406 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19407 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19409 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19410 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19411 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19412 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19413 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19414 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19415 @code{undo} function.
19417 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19418 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19419 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19420 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19421 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19422 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19423 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19424 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19425 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19426 never be totally undoable.
19428 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19429 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19431 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19432 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19433 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19434 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19439 @section Moderation
19442 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19443 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19444 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19447 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19451 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19454 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19456 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19461 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19462 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19463 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19466 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19467 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19470 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19471 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19475 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19478 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19479 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19483 @node Image Enhancements
19484 @section Image Enhancements
19486 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
19487 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
19490 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
19491 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19492 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
19493 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19494 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19507 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19508 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19509 over your shoulder as you read news.
19512 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19513 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19514 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19515 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19516 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19521 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19523 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19532 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19533 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19534 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19535 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19536 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19537 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19538 @code{GIF} formats.
19541 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19542 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19543 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19544 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19545 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19547 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19548 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19549 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19550 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19551 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19552 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19554 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
19555 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
19558 @node Picon Requirements
19559 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19561 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19562 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19563 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19564 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19566 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19567 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19568 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19569 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19570 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19571 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19574 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19576 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19577 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19580 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19581 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19584 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19585 containing the Picons databases.
19587 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19590 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19591 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19596 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19604 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19605 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19606 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19607 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19608 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19613 @item gnus-picons-database
19614 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19615 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19616 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19617 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19618 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19619 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19621 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19622 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19623 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19624 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19625 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19626 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19627 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19629 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19630 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19631 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19632 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19633 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19634 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19635 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19636 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19638 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19639 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19640 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19645 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19646 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19648 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19649 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19652 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19654 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19655 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19656 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19657 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19659 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19660 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19661 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19662 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
19668 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19669 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19677 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19678 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19679 don't need to worry about.
19683 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19684 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19685 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19686 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19688 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19689 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19690 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19691 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19693 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19694 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19695 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19696 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19697 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19699 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19700 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19701 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19702 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19703 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19704 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19705 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19706 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19708 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19709 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19710 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19711 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19712 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19714 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19715 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19716 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19717 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19718 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19719 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19720 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19722 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19723 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19724 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19725 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19727 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19728 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19729 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19730 Defaults to @code{t}.
19732 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19733 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19734 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19735 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19737 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19738 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19739 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19741 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19742 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19743 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19744 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19746 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19747 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19749 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19750 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19751 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19752 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19753 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19754 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19755 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19756 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19767 @subsection Smileys
19772 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
19777 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
19778 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
19780 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
19781 @file{.gnus.el} file:
19784 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
19787 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
19788 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
19789 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
19790 text and maps that to file names.
19792 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
19793 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
19794 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
19795 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
19796 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
19797 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
19799 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
19800 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
19802 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
19803 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
19804 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
19806 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
19807 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
19811 @item smiley-data-directory
19812 @vindex smiley-data-directory
19813 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
19815 @item smiley-flesh-color
19816 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
19817 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
19819 @item smiley-features-color
19820 @vindex smiley-features-color
19821 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19823 @item smiley-tongue-color
19824 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
19825 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
19827 @item smiley-circle-color
19828 @vindex smiley-circle-color
19829 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19831 @item smiley-mouse-face
19832 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
19833 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
19842 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white image
19843 that's supposed to represent the author of the message. It seems to
19844 be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news readers.
19847 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
19848 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
19849 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
19850 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
19858 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
19859 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
19860 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
19861 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
19863 The variable that controls this is the
19864 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
19865 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
19866 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
19867 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
19868 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
19870 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
19871 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
19872 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
19873 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
19876 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
19877 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
19878 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
19879 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
19880 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
19881 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
19882 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
19883 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
19885 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
19890 @subsection Toolbar
19900 @item gnus-use-toolbar
19901 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
19902 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
19903 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
19904 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
19906 @item gnus-group-toolbar
19907 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
19908 The toolbar in the group buffer.
19910 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
19911 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
19912 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
19914 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19915 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19916 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
19922 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
19925 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19926 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19927 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
19928 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
19929 unusual directory structure.
19931 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19932 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19933 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
19934 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
19936 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19937 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19938 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
19939 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
19940 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
19941 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
19943 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19944 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19945 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
19959 @node Fuzzy Matching
19960 @section Fuzzy Matching
19961 @cindex fuzzy matching
19963 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
19964 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
19966 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
19967 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
19968 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
19970 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
19971 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
19972 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
19973 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
19974 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
19977 @node Thwarting Email Spam
19978 @section Thwarting Email Spam
19982 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
19984 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
19985 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
19986 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
19987 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
19988 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
19989 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
19990 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
19991 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
19994 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
19995 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
19996 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
19997 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
19998 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
19999 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20003 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20004 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20006 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20007 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20008 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20009 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20010 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20011 part of the mail address.)
20014 (setq message-default-news-headers
20015 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20018 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20019 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20024 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20025 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20026 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20032 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20033 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20034 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20035 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20037 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
20038 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20039 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20040 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20041 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20042 your fancy split rule in this way:
20047 (to "larsi" "misc")
20051 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20052 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20053 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20054 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20055 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20057 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20058 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20059 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20060 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20061 cosmic balance somewhat.
20063 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20064 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20065 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20066 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20069 @node Various Various
20070 @section Various Various
20076 @item gnus-home-directory
20077 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
20078 defaults to @file{~/}.
20080 @item gnus-directory
20081 @vindex gnus-directory
20082 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
20083 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
20084 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
20086 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
20087 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
20088 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
20089 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
20091 @item gnus-default-directory
20092 @vindex gnus-default-directory
20093 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
20094 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
20095 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
20096 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
20097 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
20098 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
20101 @vindex gnus-verbose
20102 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
20103 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
20104 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
20105 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
20106 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
20108 @item gnus-verbose-backends
20109 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
20110 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
20111 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
20113 @item nnheader-max-head-length
20114 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
20115 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
20116 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
20117 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
20118 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
20119 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
20120 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
20121 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
20122 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
20124 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
20125 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
20126 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
20127 read when doing the operation described above.
20129 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20130 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20132 @cindex invalid characters in file names
20133 @cindex characters in file names
20134 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
20135 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
20136 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
20139 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20143 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
20144 Windows (phooey) systems.
20146 @item gnus-hidden-properties
20147 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
20148 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
20149 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
20150 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
20152 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
20153 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
20154 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
20155 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
20156 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
20158 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
20159 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
20160 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
20162 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20163 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20165 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
20166 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
20167 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
20168 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
20171 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
20179 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
20180 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
20182 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
20184 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
20190 Not because of victories @*
20193 but for the common sunshine,@*
20195 the largess of the spring.
20199 but for the day's work done@*
20200 as well as I was able;@*
20201 not for a seat upon the dais@*
20202 but at the common table.@*
20207 @chapter Appendices
20210 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
20211 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
20212 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
20213 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
20214 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20215 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20216 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20217 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20218 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20225 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
20227 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
20228 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
20229 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
20230 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
20231 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
20238 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20239 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20241 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20242 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20243 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20244 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20245 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20247 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20248 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20249 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20250 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20251 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20252 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20254 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20255 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20256 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20257 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20260 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20261 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20262 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20263 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20264 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20265 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20266 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20267 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20268 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20272 @node Gnus Versions
20273 @subsection Gnus Versions
20274 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20276 @cindex September Gnus
20277 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20279 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20280 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20281 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20283 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20284 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20286 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20287 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20289 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20290 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20292 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20293 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20296 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20298 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20299 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20300 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20301 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20302 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20303 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20306 @node Other Gnus Versions
20307 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20310 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20311 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20312 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20313 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20315 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20316 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20317 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20318 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20325 What's the point of Gnus?
20327 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20328 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20329 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20330 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20331 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20332 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20333 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20334 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20335 keep track of millions of people who post?
20337 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20338 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20339 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20340 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20341 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20342 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20343 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20344 every one of you to explore and invent.
20346 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20347 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20350 @node Compatibility
20351 @subsection Compatibility
20353 @cindex compatibility
20354 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20355 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20356 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20361 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20365 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20368 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20371 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20372 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20373 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20374 important variables have their values copied into their global
20375 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20376 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20378 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20379 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20380 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20381 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20382 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20386 @cindex highlighting
20387 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20388 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20389 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20390 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20391 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20392 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20395 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20396 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20397 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20398 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20400 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20401 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20402 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20403 to stop doing it the old way.
20405 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20407 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20409 @cindex reporting bugs
20411 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20412 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20413 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20415 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20416 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20417 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20418 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20423 @subsection Conformity
20425 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20426 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20433 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20437 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20439 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20440 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20441 We do have some breaches to this one.
20447 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20448 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20449 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20450 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20451 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20456 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20457 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20458 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20459 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20463 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20464 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20469 @subsection Emacsen
20475 Gnus should work on :
20483 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
20487 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20488 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20489 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
20490 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
20491 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
20493 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20494 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20495 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20499 @node Gnus Development
20500 @subsection Gnus Development
20502 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20503 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20504 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20505 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20506 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20507 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20508 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20509 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20511 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20512 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20513 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20514 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20515 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20518 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20519 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20520 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20521 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20522 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20524 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20525 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20526 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20527 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20528 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20529 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20530 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20531 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20532 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20533 can't be assumed to do so.
20538 @subsection Contributors
20539 @cindex contributors
20541 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20542 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20543 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20544 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20545 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20546 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20547 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20548 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20549 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20550 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20552 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20558 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20561 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20562 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20563 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20564 functionality and stuff.
20567 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20568 well as numerous other things).
20571 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20574 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20577 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20580 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20583 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20584 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20587 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20590 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20591 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20594 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20597 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20600 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20603 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20606 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20607 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20610 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20613 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20616 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20619 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20623 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20626 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20629 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20632 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20633 well as autoconf support.
20637 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20638 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20640 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20649 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20653 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20663 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20678 Massimo Campostrini,
20683 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20684 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20688 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20691 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20697 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20702 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
20706 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
20714 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
20716 Michelangelo Grigni,
20720 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
20722 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
20724 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
20731 François Felix Ingrand,
20732 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
20733 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
20735 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
20746 Peter Skov Knudsen,
20747 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
20749 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
20750 Thor Kristoffersen,
20753 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
20771 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
20772 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
20779 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
20784 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
20788 John McClary Prevost,
20794 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
20799 Christian von Roques,
20802 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
20809 Philippe Schnoebelen,
20811 Randal L. Schwartz,
20825 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
20830 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
20846 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
20851 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
20852 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
20853 (550kB and counting).
20855 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
20858 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
20859 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
20863 @subsection New Features
20864 @cindex new features
20867 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
20868 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
20869 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
20870 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
20871 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
20874 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
20875 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
20876 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
20879 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
20881 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
20886 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
20887 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
20890 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
20891 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
20894 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
20897 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
20898 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
20899 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
20902 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
20903 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
20904 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
20905 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20908 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
20909 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20912 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
20913 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
20914 (@pxref{The Active File}).
20917 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
20918 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
20921 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
20922 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
20923 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20926 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
20927 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
20928 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
20931 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
20932 the @file{.emacs} file.
20935 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
20936 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20939 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
20940 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
20943 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
20944 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20947 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
20948 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
20951 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
20952 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20955 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
20958 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
20959 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
20962 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
20963 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
20966 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
20967 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
20970 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
20973 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
20974 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20977 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
20981 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
20985 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
20986 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
20989 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
20995 @node September Gnus
20996 @subsubsection September Gnus
21000 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
21004 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
21009 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
21010 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
21014 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
21015 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
21019 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
21023 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
21024 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
21027 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
21031 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21034 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
21037 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
21040 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
21044 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
21045 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
21048 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
21052 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
21056 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
21060 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
21064 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
21067 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
21068 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
21071 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
21075 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
21076 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
21079 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
21082 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
21083 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
21084 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21087 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
21091 The Gnus cache is much faster.
21094 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
21098 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
21099 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
21102 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
21103 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
21106 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
21107 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21110 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
21111 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
21112 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
21115 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
21116 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
21119 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
21122 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21125 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
21128 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
21131 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
21132 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
21135 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
21139 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
21142 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
21147 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
21150 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
21154 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21157 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
21161 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
21164 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
21167 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
21168 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21171 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
21172 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
21176 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
21177 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
21180 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
21184 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
21185 buffer to allow easier treatment.
21188 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
21191 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
21195 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
21199 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
21200 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
21203 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
21207 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
21208 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21211 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
21212 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21215 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
21219 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21222 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
21225 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21231 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21233 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21237 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21244 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21247 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21248 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21251 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21252 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21256 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21257 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21260 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21263 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21264 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21267 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21271 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21272 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21276 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21277 Server Internals}).
21280 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21284 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21287 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21288 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21291 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21292 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21293 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21296 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21297 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21300 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21301 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21304 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
21308 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21309 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21312 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21313 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21316 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21320 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21323 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21327 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21328 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21331 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21332 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21335 A new command for reading collections of documents
21336 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
21337 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21340 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21344 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21345 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21348 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21349 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21350 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21353 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21354 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21358 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21362 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21366 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21371 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21375 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21379 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21380 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21383 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21389 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21391 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21396 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21397 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21398 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21401 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21402 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21403 group, which is created automatically.
21406 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21410 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21413 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21414 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21417 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21421 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21424 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21425 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21428 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21431 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21432 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21435 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21436 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21439 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21440 control over simplification.
21443 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21446 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21450 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21453 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21456 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21457 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21458 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21461 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21462 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21465 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21469 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21470 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21473 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21474 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21477 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21481 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21484 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21487 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21488 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21491 A new function for citing in Message has been
21492 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21495 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21498 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21502 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21503 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21506 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21507 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21510 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21513 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21517 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21518 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21520 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21525 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21526 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21528 If you used procmail like in
21531 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21532 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21533 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21534 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21537 this now has changed to
21541 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21545 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21546 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21549 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21550 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21553 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21554 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21557 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21558 called to position point.
21561 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21562 summary buffers and NOV files.
21565 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21566 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21569 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21570 subtly different manner.
21573 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21574 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21575 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21578 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21586 @section The Manual
21590 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21591 either @code{texi2dvi}
21593 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21594 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21596 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21598 The following conventions have been used:
21603 This is a @samp{string}
21606 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21609 This is a @file{file}
21612 This is a @code{symbol}
21616 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21620 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21623 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21626 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21629 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21630 ever get them confused.
21634 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21635 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21636 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21637 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21638 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21639 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21640 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21646 @node On Writing Manuals
21647 @section On Writing Manuals
21649 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21650 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21651 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21652 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21653 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21654 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21657 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21658 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21659 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21662 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21663 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21668 @section Terminology
21670 @cindex terminology
21675 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21676 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21677 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21678 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21679 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21683 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21684 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21685 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21686 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21690 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21694 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21699 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21700 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21701 is all done by the back ends.
21705 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
21706 default, way of getting news.
21710 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21711 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
21716 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21717 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21721 A message that has been posted as news.
21724 @cindex mail message
21725 A message that has been mailed.
21729 A mail message or news article
21733 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21738 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21743 A line from the head of an article.
21747 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21748 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21752 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
21753 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21754 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21755 normal @sc{head} format.
21759 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21760 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21761 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21762 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21763 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21764 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21766 @item killed groups
21767 @cindex killed groups
21768 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21769 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21771 @item zombie groups
21772 @cindex zombie groups
21773 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21776 @cindex active file
21777 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21778 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21779 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21782 @cindex bogus groups
21783 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21784 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21785 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21788 @cindex activating groups
21789 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21790 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21791 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21795 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21797 @item select method
21798 @cindex select method
21799 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
21802 @item virtual server
21803 @cindex virtual server
21804 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21805 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21806 whole is a virtual server.
21810 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21811 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21814 @item ephemeral groups
21815 @cindex ephemeral groups
21816 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21817 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21818 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21821 @cindex solid groups
21822 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21823 group buffer are solid groups.
21825 @item sparse articles
21826 @cindex sparse articles
21827 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21828 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21832 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21833 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21837 @cindex thread root
21838 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21839 articles in the thread.
21843 An article that has responses.
21847 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21851 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21852 specified by RFC 1153.
21858 @node Customization
21859 @section Customization
21860 @cindex general customization
21862 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21863 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21864 for some quite common situations.
21867 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21868 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21869 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21870 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21874 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21875 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21877 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21878 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21879 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21883 @item gnus-read-active-file
21884 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21885 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21886 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21887 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21888 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21890 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21891 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21892 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21893 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21897 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21898 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21900 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21901 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21902 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21906 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21907 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21908 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21909 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21910 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21912 @item gnus-visible-headers
21913 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21914 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21915 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21916 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21918 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21920 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21921 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21922 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21925 @item gnus-use-full-window
21926 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21927 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21928 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21929 want to read them anyway.
21931 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21932 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21935 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21936 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21937 lines, which might save some time.
21941 @node Little Disk Space
21942 @subsection Little Disk Space
21945 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21946 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21950 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21951 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21952 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21953 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21956 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21957 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21958 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21959 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21962 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21963 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21964 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21965 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21966 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21972 @subsection Slow Machine
21973 @cindex slow machine
21975 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21976 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21978 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21979 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21981 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21982 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21983 summary buffer faster.
21987 @node Troubleshooting
21988 @section Troubleshooting
21989 @cindex troubleshooting
21991 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21999 Make sure your computer is switched on.
22002 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
22003 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
22007 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
22008 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
22009 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
22010 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
22011 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
22014 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
22018 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
22019 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
22020 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
22021 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
22022 something like that.
22025 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
22028 @cindex reporting bugs
22030 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22032 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
22033 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
22034 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
22035 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
22037 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
22038 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
22039 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
22040 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
22043 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
22044 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
22045 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
22046 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
22047 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
22048 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
22050 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
22051 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
22052 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
22056 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
22057 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
22059 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
22060 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
22062 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
22063 @cindex ding mailing list
22064 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
22065 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
22069 @node Gnus Reference Guide
22070 @section Gnus Reference Guide
22072 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
22073 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
22074 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
22075 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
22078 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
22079 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
22080 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
22081 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
22082 and general methods of operation.
22085 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
22086 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
22087 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
22088 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
22089 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
22090 * Group Info:: The group info format.
22091 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
22092 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
22093 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
22097 @node Gnus Utility Functions
22098 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
22099 @cindex Gnus utility functions
22100 @cindex utility functions
22102 @cindex internal variables
22104 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
22105 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
22106 Below is a list of the most common ones.
22110 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
22111 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
22112 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
22114 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
22115 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
22116 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
22118 @item gnus-group-real-name
22119 @findex gnus-group-real-name
22120 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
22123 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
22124 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
22125 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
22126 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
22128 @item gnus-get-info
22129 @findex gnus-get-info
22130 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
22132 @item gnus-group-unread
22133 @findex gnus-group-unread
22134 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
22138 @findex gnus-active
22139 The active entry for @var{group}.
22141 @item gnus-set-active
22142 @findex gnus-set-active
22143 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
22145 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22146 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22147 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
22150 @item gnus-continuum-version
22151 @findex gnus-continuum-version
22152 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
22153 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
22156 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
22157 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
22158 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
22160 @item gnus-news-group-p
22161 @findex gnus-news-group-p
22162 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
22164 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22165 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22166 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
22168 @item gnus-server-to-method
22169 @findex gnus-server-to-method
22170 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
22172 @item gnus-server-equal
22173 @findex gnus-server-equal
22174 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
22176 @item gnus-group-native-p
22177 @findex gnus-group-native-p
22178 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
22180 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
22181 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
22182 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
22184 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
22185 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
22186 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
22188 @item group-group-find-parameter
22189 @findex group-group-find-parameter
22190 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
22191 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
22193 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
22194 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
22195 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
22197 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
22198 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
22199 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
22201 @item gnus-check-backend-function
22202 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
22203 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
22204 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
22207 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
22211 @item gnus-read-method
22212 @findex gnus-read-method
22213 Prompts the user for a select method.
22218 @node Back End Interface
22219 @subsection Back End Interface
22221 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
22222 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
22223 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
22224 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
22225 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
22226 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22228 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22229 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22230 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22231 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22232 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22233 been opened, the function should fail.
22235 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22236 name. Take this example:
22240 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22241 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22244 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22245 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22247 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22248 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22249 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22251 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22252 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22253 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22255 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22256 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22257 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22258 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22259 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22260 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22263 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22264 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22265 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22266 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22269 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22270 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22271 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22272 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22273 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22274 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22275 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22276 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22277 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22278 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22280 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22281 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22282 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22283 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22284 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22285 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22286 of numbers as long as possible.
22288 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22291 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22294 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22295 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22296 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22297 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22298 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22299 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22303 @node Required Back End Functions
22304 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22308 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22310 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22311 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22312 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22313 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22315 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22316 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22317 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22318 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22320 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22321 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22322 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22323 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22324 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22325 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22326 number, do maximum fetches.
22328 Here's an example HEAD:
22331 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22332 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22333 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22334 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22335 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22336 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22337 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22339 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22340 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22341 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22345 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22346 these in the data buffer.
22348 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22352 head = error / valid-head
22353 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22354 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22355 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22356 header = <text> eol
22359 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22360 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22364 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22365 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22366 field = <text except TAB>
22369 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22373 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22375 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22376 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22378 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22379 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22380 server. In fact, it should do so.
22382 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22383 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22386 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22388 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22389 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22392 There should be no data returned.
22395 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22397 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22398 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22399 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22400 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22402 There should be no data returned.
22405 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22407 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22408 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22409 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22410 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22412 There should be no data returned.
22415 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22417 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22419 There should be no data returned.
22422 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22424 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22425 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22426 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22427 it would be nice if that were possible.
22429 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22430 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22431 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22432 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22433 into its article buffer.
22435 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22436 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22437 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22438 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22439 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22440 on successful article retrieval.
22443 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22445 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22446 making @var{group} the current group.
22448 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22451 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22454 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22457 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22458 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22459 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22460 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22461 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22462 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22463 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22464 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22467 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22468 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22469 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22473 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22475 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22476 a no-op on most back ends.
22478 There should be no data returned.
22481 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22483 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22486 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22489 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22490 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22493 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22494 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22497 active-file = *active-line
22498 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22500 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22503 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22504 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22505 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22508 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22510 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22511 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22512 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22513 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22514 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22515 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22517 There should be no result data from this function.
22522 @node Optional Back End Functions
22523 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22527 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22529 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22530 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22531 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22533 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22534 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22535 former is in the same format as the data from
22536 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22537 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22540 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22544 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22546 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22547 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22548 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22549 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22550 should return the (altered) group info.
22552 There should be no result data from this function.
22555 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22557 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22558 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22559 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22560 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22561 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22562 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22563 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22564 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22566 There should be no result data from this function.
22569 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22571 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22572 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22573 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22574 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22575 propagate the mark information to the server.
22577 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22580 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22583 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22584 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22585 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22586 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22587 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22588 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22589 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22590 possible, not limit itself to these.
22592 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22593 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22594 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22595 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22597 An example action list:
22600 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22601 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22602 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22605 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22606 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22608 There should be no result data from this function.
22610 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22612 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22613 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22614 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22615 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22616 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22618 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22619 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22620 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22623 There should be no result data from this function.
22626 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22628 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22629 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22630 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22631 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22632 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22633 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22634 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22636 There should be no result data from this function.
22639 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22641 The result data from this function should be a description of
22645 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22647 description = <text>
22650 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22652 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22653 groups available on the server.
22656 description-buffer = *description-line
22660 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22662 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22663 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22664 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22665 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22666 in the active buffer format.
22668 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22669 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22670 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22671 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22672 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22673 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22674 likely that there can be many groups.
22677 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22679 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22681 There should be no return data.
22684 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22686 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22687 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22688 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22689 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22690 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22693 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22696 There should be no result data returned.
22699 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22702 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22703 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22705 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22706 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22707 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22708 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22709 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22710 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22712 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22713 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22716 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22717 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22719 There should be no data returned.
22722 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22724 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22725 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22726 this function in short order.
22728 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22729 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22731 There should be no data returned.
22734 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22736 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22737 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22739 There should be no data returned.
22742 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22744 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22745 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22746 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22748 There should be no data returned.
22751 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22753 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22754 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22756 There should be no data returned.
22761 @node Error Messaging
22762 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22764 @findex nnheader-report
22765 @findex nnheader-get-report
22766 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22767 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22768 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
22769 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22770 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22771 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22774 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22776 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22779 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22780 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22781 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
22782 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22784 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
22785 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
22786 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22789 @node Writing New Back Ends
22790 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
22792 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22793 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22794 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22795 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22796 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22799 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22800 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22801 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22803 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22804 package called @code{nnoo}.
22806 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
22807 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
22813 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22814 parameters. For instance:
22817 (nnoo-declare nndir
22821 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22822 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22825 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22826 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22827 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22829 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22830 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
22831 a function in those back ends.
22834 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22835 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22836 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22839 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22840 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22841 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22843 @item nnoo-define-basics
22844 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
22848 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22852 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22853 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22854 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
22856 @item nnoo-map-functions
22857 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
22858 functions from the parent back ends.
22861 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22862 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22863 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22866 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22867 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22868 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22869 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22872 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
22873 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22874 haven't already been defined.
22880 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22884 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22885 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22886 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22891 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
22894 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22895 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22899 (require 'nnheader)
22903 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22905 (nnoo-declare nndir
22908 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22909 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22910 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22912 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22913 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22916 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
22918 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22919 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22920 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22922 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22923 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22925 ;;; Interface functions.
22927 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22929 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22930 (setq nndir-directory
22931 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22933 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22934 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22935 (push `(nndir-current-group
22936 ,(file-name-nondirectory
22937 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22939 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22940 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22942 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22944 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22945 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22946 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22947 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22948 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22952 nnmh-status-message
22954 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22960 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22961 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22963 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22964 @findex gnus-declare-backend
22965 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
22966 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22967 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22969 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
22970 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22975 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22978 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
22980 The abilities can be:
22984 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22986 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
22988 This back end supports both mail and news.
22990 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
22993 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22994 articles and groups.
22996 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22997 true for almost all back ends.
22998 @item prompt-address
22999 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
23000 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
23001 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
23005 @node Mail-like Back Ends
23006 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
23008 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
23009 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
23010 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
23011 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
23014 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
23015 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
23016 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
23019 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
23020 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
23023 This function takes four parameters.
23027 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
23030 @item exit-function
23031 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
23033 @item temp-directory
23034 Where the temporary files should be stored.
23037 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
23038 performed for one group only.
23041 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
23042 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
23043 find the article number assigned to this article.
23045 The function also uses the following variables:
23046 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
23047 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
23048 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
23049 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
23053 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
23054 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
23058 @node Score File Syntax
23059 @subsection Score File Syntax
23061 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
23062 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
23063 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
23065 Here's a typical score file:
23069 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
23076 BNF definition of a score file:
23079 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
23080 element = rule / atom
23081 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
23082 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
23083 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
23084 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
23086 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
23087 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
23088 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
23089 date-header = "date"
23090 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23091 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23092 score = "nil" / <integer>
23093 date = "nil" / <natural number>
23094 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
23095 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
23096 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
23097 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
23098 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23099 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23100 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
23101 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23102 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
23103 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
23104 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
23105 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
23106 exclude-files / read-only / touched
23107 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
23108 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
23109 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
23110 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
23111 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
23112 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
23113 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
23114 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
23115 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
23116 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
23117 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
23118 eval = "eval" space <form>
23119 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
23122 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
23125 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
23126 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
23127 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
23128 one looong line, then that's ok.
23130 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
23131 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23135 @subsection Headers
23137 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
23138 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
23139 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
23140 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
23142 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
23143 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
23144 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
23145 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
23146 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
23147 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
23148 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
23150 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
23151 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
23152 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
23153 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
23154 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
23156 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
23157 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
23163 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
23164 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
23166 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
23167 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
23168 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
23169 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
23171 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
23175 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
23178 is transformed into
23181 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
23184 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
23185 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
23188 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
23191 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
23192 is slightly tricky:
23195 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
23201 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
23204 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
23210 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
23217 and is equal to the previous range.
23219 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
23220 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
23221 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
23225 range = simple-range / normal-range
23226 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23227 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23228 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23229 number *[ " " contents ]
23232 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23233 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23234 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23235 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23236 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23241 @subsection Group Info
23243 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23244 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23245 describes the group.
23247 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23248 second is a more complex one:
23251 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23253 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23254 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23256 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23259 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23260 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23261 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23262 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23263 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23264 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23265 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23266 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23267 this section is about.
23269 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23270 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23271 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23273 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23276 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23277 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23278 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23279 group = quote <string> quote
23280 ralevel = rank / level
23281 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23282 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23283 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23285 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23286 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23287 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23288 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23291 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23292 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23295 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23296 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23299 @item gnus-info-group
23300 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23301 @findex gnus-info-group
23302 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23303 Get/set the group name.
23305 @item gnus-info-rank
23306 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23307 @findex gnus-info-rank
23308 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23309 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23311 @item gnus-info-level
23312 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23313 @findex gnus-info-level
23314 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23315 Get/set the group level.
23317 @item gnus-info-score
23318 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23319 @findex gnus-info-score
23320 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23321 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23323 @item gnus-info-read
23324 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23325 @findex gnus-info-read
23326 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23327 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23329 @item gnus-info-marks
23330 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23331 @findex gnus-info-marks
23332 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23333 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23335 @item gnus-info-method
23336 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23337 @findex gnus-info-method
23338 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23339 Get/set the group select method.
23341 @item gnus-info-params
23342 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23343 @findex gnus-info-params
23344 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23345 Get/set the group parameters.
23348 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23349 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23351 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23352 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23353 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23354 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23357 @node Extended Interactive
23358 @subsection Extended Interactive
23359 @cindex interactive
23360 @findex gnus-interactive
23362 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23363 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23364 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23367 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23368 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23373 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23374 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23375 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23376 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23377 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23378 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23379 @code{interactive}.
23381 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23386 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23387 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23391 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23392 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23393 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23396 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23400 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23404 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23410 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23411 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23415 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23416 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23417 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23419 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23420 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23421 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23422 Gnus, that's very useful.
23424 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23425 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23426 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23427 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23428 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23429 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23430 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23431 following function:
23434 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23438 (,function ,@@args))
23442 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23443 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23444 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23447 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23448 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23449 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23451 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23452 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23453 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23456 @node Various File Formats
23457 @subsection Various File Formats
23460 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23461 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23465 @node Active File Format
23466 @subsubsection Active File Format
23468 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23469 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23472 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23475 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23476 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23477 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23478 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23479 no.general 1000 900 y
23482 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23485 active = *group-line
23486 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23487 group = <non-white-space string>
23489 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23490 low-number = <positive integer>
23491 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23494 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23495 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23498 @node Newsgroups File Format
23499 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23501 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23502 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23503 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23506 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23507 Here's the definition:
23511 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23512 group = <non-white-space string>
23514 description = <string>
23519 @node Emacs for Heathens
23520 @section Emacs for Heathens
23522 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23523 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23524 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
23525 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23526 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23527 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23528 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23532 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23533 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23538 @subsection Keystrokes
23542 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23545 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23548 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23549 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23550 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23551 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23552 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23553 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23555 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23556 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23557 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23558 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23559 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23560 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23561 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23563 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23564 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
23565 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23566 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23567 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23568 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23569 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23571 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23572 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23573 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23574 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23575 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23581 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23583 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23584 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23585 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23586 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23588 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23589 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23590 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23591 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23592 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23593 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23594 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23597 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23598 write the following:
23601 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23604 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23605 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23606 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23609 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23610 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23611 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23612 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23613 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23615 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23616 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23617 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23621 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23625 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23628 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23629 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23632 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23635 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23636 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23639 @include gnus-faq.texi
23659 @c Local Variables:
23661 @c coding: iso-8859-1
23663 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23664 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23665 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23666 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23667 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref