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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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266 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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275 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
277 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
278 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
279 are preserved on all copies.
281 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
282 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
283 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
284 permission notice identical to this one.
286 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
287 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
296 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
298 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
300 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
301 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
302 are preserved on all copies.
305 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
306 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
307 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
308 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
311 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
312 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
313 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
314 permission notice identical to this one.
316 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
317 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
323 @title T-gnus 6.14 Manual
325 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
328 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
329 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
331 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
332 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
333 are preserved on all copies.
335 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
336 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
337 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
338 permission notice identical to this one.
340 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
341 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
350 @top The gnus Newsreader
354 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
355 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
356 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
359 T-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So T-gnus supports
360 your right to read strange messages including big images or other
361 various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
362 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
363 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
364 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
366 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.14.
377 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
378 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
380 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
381 being accused of plagiarism:
383 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
384 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
385 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
386 can even read news with it!
388 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
389 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
390 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
391 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
392 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
398 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
399 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
400 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
401 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
402 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
403 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
404 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
405 * Various:: General purpose settings.
406 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
407 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
408 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
409 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
416 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
417 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
418 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
419 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
420 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
421 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
422 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
423 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
424 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
425 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
426 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
430 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
431 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
432 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
436 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
437 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
438 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
439 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
440 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
441 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
442 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
443 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
444 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
445 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
446 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
447 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
448 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
449 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
450 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
451 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
452 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
456 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
457 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
458 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
462 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
463 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
464 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
465 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
466 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
470 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
471 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
472 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
473 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
477 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
478 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
479 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
480 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
481 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
482 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
483 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
484 * Threading:: How threads are made.
485 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
486 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
487 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
488 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
489 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
490 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
491 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
492 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
493 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
494 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
495 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
496 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
497 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
498 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
499 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
500 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
501 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
502 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
503 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
504 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
506 Summary Buffer Format
508 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
509 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
510 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
511 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
515 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
516 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
518 Reply, Followup and Post
520 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
521 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
522 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
523 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
527 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
528 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
529 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
533 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
534 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
535 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
539 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
540 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
542 Customizing Threading
544 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
545 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
546 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
547 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
551 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
552 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
553 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
554 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
555 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
556 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
560 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
561 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
562 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
566 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
567 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
568 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
569 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
570 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
571 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
572 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
573 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
575 Alternative Approaches
577 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
578 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
580 Various Summary Stuff
582 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
583 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
584 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
585 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
589 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
590 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
591 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
592 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
593 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
597 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
598 * Post:: Posting and following up.
599 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
600 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
601 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
602 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
603 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
604 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
608 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
609 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
610 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
611 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
612 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
613 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
614 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
618 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
619 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
620 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
621 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
622 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
623 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
624 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
628 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
629 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
633 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
634 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
635 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
636 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
637 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
638 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
639 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
640 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
641 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
642 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
643 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
644 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
645 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
649 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
650 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
651 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
653 Choosing a Mail Backend
655 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
656 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
657 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
658 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
659 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
660 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
664 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
665 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
666 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
667 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
671 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
672 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
673 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
674 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
675 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
676 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
680 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
684 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
685 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
686 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
690 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
691 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
692 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
696 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
697 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
701 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
702 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
703 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
704 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
705 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
706 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
707 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
708 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
709 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
713 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
714 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
715 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
719 * Group Agent Commands::
720 * Summary Agent Commands::
721 * Server Agent Commands::
725 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
726 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
727 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
728 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
729 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
730 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
731 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
732 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
733 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
734 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
735 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
736 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
737 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
738 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
739 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
740 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
744 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
745 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
746 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
747 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
751 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
752 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
753 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
757 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
758 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
759 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
760 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
761 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
762 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
763 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
764 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
765 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
766 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
767 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
768 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
769 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
770 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
771 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
772 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
773 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
774 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
778 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
779 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
780 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
781 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
782 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
786 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
787 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
788 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
789 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
793 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
794 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
795 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
796 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
797 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
801 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
802 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
803 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
804 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
805 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
806 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
807 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
808 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
812 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
813 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
814 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
815 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
816 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
817 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
818 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
819 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
820 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
821 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
825 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
826 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
827 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
828 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
832 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
833 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
834 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
835 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
839 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
840 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
841 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
842 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
843 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
844 * Group Info:: The group info format.
845 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
846 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
847 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
851 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
852 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
853 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
854 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
855 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
856 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
860 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
861 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
865 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
866 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
872 @chapter Starting gnus
877 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
878 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
881 @findex gnus-other-frame
882 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
883 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
884 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
886 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
887 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
888 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
890 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
891 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
894 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
895 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
896 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
897 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
898 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
899 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
900 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
901 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
902 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
903 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
904 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
908 @node Finding the News
909 @section Finding the News
912 @vindex gnus-select-method
914 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
915 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
916 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
917 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
920 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
921 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
924 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
927 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
930 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
933 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
934 certainly be much faster.
936 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
938 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
939 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
940 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
941 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
942 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
943 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
945 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
946 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
947 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
948 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
950 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
951 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
952 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
953 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
954 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
955 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
956 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
957 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
958 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
961 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
963 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
964 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
965 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
966 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
967 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
968 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
970 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
972 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
973 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
974 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
975 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
976 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
977 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
980 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
981 would typically set this variable to
984 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
989 @section The First Time
990 @cindex first time usage
992 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
993 be subscribed by default.
995 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
996 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
997 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
998 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1001 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1002 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1003 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1005 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1006 help you with most common problems.
1008 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1009 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1013 @node The Server is Down
1014 @section The Server is Down
1015 @cindex server errors
1017 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1018 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1019 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1021 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1022 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1023 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1024 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1025 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1026 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1027 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1029 @findex gnus-no-server
1030 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1032 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1033 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1034 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1035 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1036 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1037 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1042 @section Slave Gnusae
1045 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1046 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1047 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1048 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1050 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1051 @code{.newsrc} file.
1053 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1054 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1055 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1056 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1057 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1058 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1059 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1061 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1062 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1063 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1064 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1065 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1066 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1067 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1068 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1070 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1071 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1074 @node Fetching a Group
1075 @section Fetching a Group
1076 @cindex fetching a group
1078 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1079 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1080 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1081 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1082 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1083 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1089 @cindex subscription
1091 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1092 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1093 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1094 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1095 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1096 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1097 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1098 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1099 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1102 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1103 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
1104 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
1108 @node Checking New Groups
1109 @subsection Checking New Groups
1111 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1112 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1113 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1114 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1115 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1116 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1117 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1118 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1119 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1120 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1122 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1123 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1124 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1125 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1126 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1127 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1128 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1129 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1130 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1131 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1132 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1134 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1135 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1136 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1137 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1138 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1139 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1142 @node Subscription Methods
1143 @subsection Subscription Methods
1145 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1146 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1147 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1149 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1150 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1152 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1156 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1157 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1158 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1159 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1160 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1162 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1163 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1164 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1165 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1167 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1168 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1169 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1171 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1172 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1173 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1174 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1175 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1176 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1177 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1178 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1179 up. Or something like that.
1181 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1182 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1183 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1184 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1185 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1187 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1188 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1189 Kill all new groups.
1191 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1192 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1193 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1194 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1195 topic parameter that looks like
1201 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1204 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1209 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1210 A closely related variable is
1211 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1212 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1213 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1214 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1217 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1218 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1219 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1220 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1223 @node Filtering New Groups
1224 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1226 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1227 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1228 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1231 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1235 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1236 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1237 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1238 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1239 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1240 subscribing these groups.
1241 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1242 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1244 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1245 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1246 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1247 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1248 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1249 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1250 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1251 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1253 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1254 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1255 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1256 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1257 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1258 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1259 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1260 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1261 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1262 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1264 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1265 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1268 @node Changing Servers
1269 @section Changing Servers
1270 @cindex changing servers
1272 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1273 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1274 very flaky and you want to use another.
1276 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1277 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1281 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1282 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1283 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1284 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1287 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1288 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1289 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1290 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1292 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1293 @findex gnus-change-server
1294 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1295 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1296 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1297 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1298 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1300 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1301 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1302 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1303 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1304 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1306 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1307 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1308 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1309 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1310 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1311 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1313 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1314 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1315 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1319 @section Startup Files
1320 @cindex startup files
1325 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1326 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1328 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1329 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1330 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1331 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1332 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1333 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1334 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1336 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1337 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1338 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1339 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1340 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1341 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1343 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1344 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1345 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1346 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1347 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1348 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1349 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1350 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1351 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1352 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1354 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1355 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1356 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1357 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1358 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1359 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1360 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1361 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1362 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1363 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1364 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1365 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1367 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1368 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1369 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1370 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1372 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1373 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1374 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1375 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1376 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1377 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1378 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1379 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1380 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1381 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1384 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1385 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1387 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1388 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1391 @vindex gnus-init-file
1392 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1393 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1394 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1395 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1396 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1397 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1398 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1399 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1400 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1406 @cindex dribble file
1409 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1410 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1411 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1412 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1413 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1416 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1417 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1420 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1421 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1422 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1424 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1425 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1426 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1427 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1428 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1429 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1431 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1432 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1433 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1436 @node The Active File
1437 @section The Active File
1439 @cindex ignored groups
1441 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1442 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1443 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1445 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1446 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1447 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1448 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1449 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1450 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1451 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1454 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1455 @c if you set it to anything else.
1457 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1459 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1460 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1461 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1463 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1464 you actually subscribe to.
1466 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1467 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1468 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1469 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1471 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1472 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1473 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1474 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1475 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1476 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1478 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1479 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1480 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1482 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1483 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1484 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1485 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1486 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1487 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1489 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1490 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1492 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1493 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1495 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1496 secondary select methods.
1499 @node Startup Variables
1500 @section Startup Variables
1504 @item gnus-load-hook
1505 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1506 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1507 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1508 times you start gnus.
1510 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1512 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1514 @item gnus-startup-hook
1515 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1516 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1518 @item gnus-started-hook
1519 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1520 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1523 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1524 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1525 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1526 generating the group buffer.
1528 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1529 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1530 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1531 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1532 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1533 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1534 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1535 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1537 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1538 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1539 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1540 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1541 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1542 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1544 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1545 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1546 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1548 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1549 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1550 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1552 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1553 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1554 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1555 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1560 @node The Group Buffer
1561 @chapter The Group Buffer
1562 @cindex group buffer
1564 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1565 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1566 long as gnus is active.
1570 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1571 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1572 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1573 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1574 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1575 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1576 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1577 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1583 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1584 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1585 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1586 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1587 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1588 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1589 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1590 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1591 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1592 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1593 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1594 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1595 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1596 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1597 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1598 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1599 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1603 @node Group Buffer Format
1604 @section Group Buffer Format
1607 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1608 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1609 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1613 @node Group Line Specification
1614 @subsection Group Line Specification
1615 @cindex group buffer format
1617 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1618 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1620 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1623 25: news.announce.newusers
1624 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1629 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1630 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1631 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1632 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1634 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1635 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1636 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1637 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1638 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1639 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1641 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1643 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1644 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1645 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1646 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1649 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1650 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1651 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1653 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1658 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1661 Whether the group is subscribed.
1664 Level of subscribedness.
1667 Number of unread articles.
1670 Number of dormant articles.
1673 Number of ticked articles.
1676 Number of read articles.
1679 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1680 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1683 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1686 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1695 Newsgroup description.
1698 @samp{m} if moderated.
1701 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1710 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1714 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1717 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1718 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1719 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1720 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1721 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1724 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1726 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1730 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1734 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1735 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1736 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1737 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1738 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1739 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1744 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1745 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1746 group, or a bogus native group.
1749 @node Group Modeline Specification
1750 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1751 @cindex group modeline
1753 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1754 The mode line can be changed by setting
1755 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1756 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1760 The native news server.
1762 The native select method.
1766 @node Group Highlighting
1767 @subsection Group Highlighting
1768 @cindex highlighting
1769 @cindex group highlighting
1771 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1772 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1773 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1774 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1775 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1777 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1781 (cond (window-system
1782 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1783 (defface my-group-face-1
1784 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1785 (defface my-group-face-2
1786 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1787 (defface my-group-face-3
1788 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1789 (defface my-group-face-4
1790 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1791 (defface my-group-face-5
1792 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1794 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1795 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1796 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1797 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1798 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1799 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1802 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1804 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1811 The number of unread articles in the group.
1815 Whether the group is a mail group.
1817 The level of the group.
1819 The score of the group.
1821 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1823 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1824 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1826 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1827 topic being inserted.
1830 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1831 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1832 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1834 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1835 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1836 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1837 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1838 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1841 @node Group Maneuvering
1842 @section Group Maneuvering
1843 @cindex group movement
1845 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1846 expected, hopefully.
1852 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1853 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1854 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1860 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1861 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1862 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1866 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1867 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1871 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1872 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1876 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1877 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1878 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1882 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1883 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1884 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1887 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1893 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1894 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1895 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1900 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1901 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1902 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1906 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1907 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1908 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1911 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1912 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1913 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1914 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1918 @node Selecting a Group
1919 @section Selecting a Group
1920 @cindex group selection
1925 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1926 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1927 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1928 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1929 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1930 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1931 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1932 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1933 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1934 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1938 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1939 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1940 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1941 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1942 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1946 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1947 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1948 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1949 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1950 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1951 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1952 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1953 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1954 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1955 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1958 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1959 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1960 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1961 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1962 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1965 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1966 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1967 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1968 doing any processing of its contents
1969 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1970 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1971 manner will have no permanent effects.
1975 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1976 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1977 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1978 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1979 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1980 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1981 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1982 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1985 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1986 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1987 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1988 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1993 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1994 full summary buffer.
1997 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2000 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2005 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2006 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2007 Useful functions include:
2010 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2011 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2012 don't select the article.
2014 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2015 Select the first unread article.
2017 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2018 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2022 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2023 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2024 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2028 @node Subscription Commands
2029 @section Subscription Commands
2030 @cindex subscription
2038 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2039 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2040 Toggle subscription to the current group
2041 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2047 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2048 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2049 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2050 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2056 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2057 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2058 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2064 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2065 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2068 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2069 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2070 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2071 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2072 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2078 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2079 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2083 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2084 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2087 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2088 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2089 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2090 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2091 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2092 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2093 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2094 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2095 @file{.newsrc} file.
2099 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2109 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2110 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2111 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2112 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2113 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2114 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2119 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2120 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2121 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2125 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2126 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2127 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2129 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2130 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2131 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2132 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2133 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2134 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2141 @section Group Levels
2145 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2146 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2147 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2148 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2149 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2151 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2157 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2158 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2159 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2160 prompted for a level.
2163 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2164 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2165 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2166 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2167 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2168 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2169 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2170 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2171 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2172 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2173 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2174 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2175 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2176 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2177 reasons of efficiency.
2179 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2180 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2182 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2183 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2184 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2186 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2187 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2188 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2189 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2190 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2191 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2192 relevant valid ranges.
2194 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2195 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2196 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2197 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2198 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2199 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2202 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2203 one with the best level.
2205 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2206 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2207 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2210 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2211 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2212 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2213 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2216 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2217 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2218 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2219 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2221 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2222 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2223 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2224 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2225 to 5. The default is 6.
2229 @section Group Score
2234 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2235 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2236 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2239 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2240 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2241 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2242 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2243 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2244 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2245 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2246 least significant part.))
2248 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2249 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2250 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2251 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2252 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2253 action after each summary exit, you can add
2254 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2255 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2256 slow things down somewhat.
2259 @node Marking Groups
2260 @section Marking Groups
2261 @cindex marking groups
2263 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2264 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2265 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2266 bidding on those groups.
2268 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2269 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2270 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2278 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2279 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2285 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2286 Remove the mark from the current group
2287 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2291 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2292 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2296 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2297 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2301 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2302 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2306 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2307 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2308 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2311 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2313 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2314 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2315 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2316 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2317 the command to be executed.
2320 @node Foreign Groups
2321 @section Foreign Groups
2322 @cindex foreign groups
2324 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2325 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2326 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2327 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2334 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2335 @cindex making groups
2336 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2337 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2338 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2342 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2343 @cindex renaming groups
2344 Rename the current group to something else
2345 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2346 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2352 @findex gnus-group-customize
2353 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2357 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2358 @cindex renaming groups
2359 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2360 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2364 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2365 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2366 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2370 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2371 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2372 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2376 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2378 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2379 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2384 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2385 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2389 @cindex (ding) archive
2390 @cindex archive group
2391 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2392 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2393 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2394 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2395 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2396 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2397 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2401 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2403 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2404 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2405 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2406 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2410 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2412 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2413 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2414 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2418 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2419 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2421 Make a group based on some file or other
2422 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2423 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2424 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2425 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2426 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2427 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2428 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2432 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2433 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2434 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2435 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2444 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2445 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2446 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2447 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2448 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2449 @xref{Web Searches}.
2451 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2452 to a particular group by using a match string like
2453 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2456 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2457 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2458 This function will delete the current group
2459 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2460 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2461 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2462 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2463 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2467 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2468 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2469 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2473 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2474 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2475 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2478 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2481 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2482 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2483 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2484 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2485 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2486 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2490 @node Group Parameters
2491 @section Group Parameters
2492 @cindex group parameters
2494 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2495 Here's an example group parameter list:
2498 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2502 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2503 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2504 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2505 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2507 The following group parameters can be used:
2512 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2515 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2518 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2519 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2520 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2521 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2522 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2524 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2525 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2526 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2527 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2528 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2529 list address instead.
2533 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2536 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2539 It is totally ignored
2540 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2541 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2543 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2544 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2545 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2546 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2547 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2549 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2550 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2551 sending the message.
2555 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2556 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2557 of whether it has any unread articles.
2559 @item broken-reply-to
2560 @cindex broken-reply-to
2561 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2562 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2563 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2564 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2565 broken behavior. So there!
2569 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2570 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2574 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2575 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2576 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2581 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2582 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2583 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2584 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2585 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2586 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2587 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2591 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2592 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2593 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2596 @cindex total-expire
2597 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2598 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2599 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2600 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2605 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2606 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2607 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2608 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2609 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2610 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2613 @cindex score file group parameter
2614 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2615 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2616 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2619 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2620 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2621 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2622 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2625 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2626 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2627 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2628 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2631 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2632 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2636 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2639 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2644 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2645 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2646 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2650 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2651 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2652 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2654 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2655 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2656 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2657 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2658 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2659 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2660 @code{eval}ed there.
2662 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2663 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2664 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2665 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2666 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2669 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2670 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2671 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2672 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2673 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2675 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2676 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2677 like this in the group parameters:
2682 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2687 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2688 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2692 @node Listing Groups
2693 @section Listing Groups
2694 @cindex group listing
2696 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2704 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2705 List all groups that have unread articles
2706 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2707 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2708 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2709 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2716 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2717 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2718 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2719 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2720 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2721 unsubscribed groups).
2725 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2726 List all unread groups on a specific level
2727 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2728 with no unread articles.
2732 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2733 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2734 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2735 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2740 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2741 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2745 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2746 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2747 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2751 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2752 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2756 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2757 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2758 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2759 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2760 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2761 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2762 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2763 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2767 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2768 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2769 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2773 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2774 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2775 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2779 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2780 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2784 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2785 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2789 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2790 @cindex visible group parameter
2791 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2792 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2793 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2794 get the same effect.
2796 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2797 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2798 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2799 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2800 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2803 @node Sorting Groups
2804 @section Sorting Groups
2805 @cindex sorting groups
2807 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2808 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2809 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2810 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2811 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2812 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2817 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2818 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2819 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2821 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2822 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2823 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2825 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2826 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2827 Sort by group level.
2829 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2830 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2831 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2833 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2834 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2835 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2836 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2838 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2839 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2840 Sort by number of unread articles.
2842 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2843 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2844 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2849 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2850 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2854 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2855 some sorting criteria:
2859 @kindex G S a (Group)
2860 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2861 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2862 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2865 @kindex G S u (Group)
2866 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2867 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2868 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2871 @kindex G S l (Group)
2872 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2873 Sort the group buffer by group level
2874 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2877 @kindex G S v (Group)
2878 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2879 Sort the group buffer by group score
2880 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2883 @kindex G S r (Group)
2884 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2885 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2886 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2889 @kindex G S m (Group)
2890 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2891 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2892 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2896 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2897 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2899 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2900 commands will sort in reverse order.
2902 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2906 @kindex G P a (Group)
2907 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2908 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2909 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2912 @kindex G P u (Group)
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2914 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2915 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2918 @kindex G P l (Group)
2919 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2920 Sort the groups by group level
2921 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2924 @kindex G P v (Group)
2925 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2926 Sort the groups by group score
2927 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2930 @kindex G P r (Group)
2931 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2932 Sort the groups by group rank
2933 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2936 @kindex G P m (Group)
2937 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2938 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2939 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2945 @node Group Maintenance
2946 @section Group Maintenance
2947 @cindex bogus groups
2952 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2953 Find bogus groups and delete them
2954 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2958 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2959 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2960 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2961 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2962 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2966 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2967 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2968 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2969 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2972 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2973 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2974 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2975 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2980 @node Browse Foreign Server
2981 @section Browse Foreign Server
2982 @cindex foreign servers
2983 @cindex browsing servers
2988 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2989 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2990 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2991 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2994 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2995 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2996 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2997 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2999 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3004 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3005 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3009 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3010 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3013 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3014 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3015 Enter the current group and display the first article
3016 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3019 @kindex RET (Browse)
3020 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3021 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3025 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3026 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3027 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3033 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3034 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3038 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3039 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3040 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3045 @section Exiting gnus
3046 @cindex exiting gnus
3048 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3053 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3054 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3055 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3056 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3060 @findex gnus-group-exit
3061 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3062 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3066 @findex gnus-group-quit
3067 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3068 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3071 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3072 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3073 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3074 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3075 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3080 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3081 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3082 trying to customize meta-variables.
3087 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3088 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3089 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3095 @section Group Topics
3098 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3099 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3100 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3101 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3102 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3103 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3107 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3108 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3119 2: alt.religion.emacs
3122 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3124 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3125 13: comp.sources.unix
3128 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3130 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3131 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3132 is a toggling command.)
3134 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3135 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3136 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3137 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3140 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3141 the hook for the group mode:
3144 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3148 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3149 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3150 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3151 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3152 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3156 @node Topic Variables
3157 @subsection Topic Variables
3158 @cindex topic variables
3160 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3161 really neat, I think.
3163 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3164 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3165 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3178 Number of groups in the topic.
3180 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3182 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3185 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3186 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3187 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3190 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3191 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3193 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3194 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3195 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3198 @node Topic Commands
3199 @subsection Topic Commands
3200 @cindex topic commands
3202 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3203 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3204 definitions slightly.
3210 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3211 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3212 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3216 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3217 Move the current group to some other topic
3218 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3219 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3223 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3224 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3228 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3229 Copy the current group to some other topic
3230 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3231 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3235 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3236 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3237 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3241 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3242 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3243 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3247 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3248 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3249 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3250 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3251 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3252 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3253 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3256 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3257 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3261 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3262 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3263 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3267 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3268 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3269 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3273 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3274 Toggle hiding empty topics
3275 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3279 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3280 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3281 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3284 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3285 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3286 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3287 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3291 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3293 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3294 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3295 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3296 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3299 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3300 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3301 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3302 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3306 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3308 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3309 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3310 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3311 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3312 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3313 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3316 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3317 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3318 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3319 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3323 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3324 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3325 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3329 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3330 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3331 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3336 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3337 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3340 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3341 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3342 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3346 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3347 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3348 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3352 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3353 @cindex group parameters
3354 @cindex topic parameters
3356 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3357 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3363 @subsection Topic Sorting
3364 @cindex topic sorting
3366 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3372 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3373 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3374 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3375 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3378 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3379 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3380 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3381 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3384 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3385 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3386 Sort the current topic by group level
3387 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3390 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3391 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3392 Sort the current topic by group score
3393 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3396 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3397 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3398 Sort the current topic by group rank
3399 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3402 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3403 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3404 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3405 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3409 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3412 @node Topic Topology
3413 @subsection Topic Topology
3414 @cindex topic topology
3417 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3423 2: alt.religion.emacs
3426 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3428 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3429 13: comp.sources.unix
3432 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3433 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3434 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3439 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3440 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3444 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3445 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3446 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3447 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3448 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3449 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3451 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3452 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3453 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3456 @node Topic Parameters
3457 @subsection Topic Parameters
3458 @cindex topic parameters
3460 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3461 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3462 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3464 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3469 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3470 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3471 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3476 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3477 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3478 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3479 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3485 2: alt.religion.emacs
3489 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3491 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3492 13: comp.sources.unix
3496 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3497 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3498 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3499 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3500 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3501 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3503 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3504 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3505 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3506 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3507 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3509 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3510 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3511 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3512 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3513 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3514 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3515 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3516 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3519 @node Misc Group Stuff
3520 @section Misc Group Stuff
3523 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3524 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
3525 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3526 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3533 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3534 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3535 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3539 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3540 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3541 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3545 @findex gnus-group-mail
3546 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3550 Variables for the group buffer:
3554 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3555 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3556 is called after the group buffer has been
3559 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3560 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3561 is called after the group buffer is
3562 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3565 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3566 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3567 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3568 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3570 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3571 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3572 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3573 whether they are empty or not.
3575 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3576 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3577 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3578 non-ASCII group names.
3582 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3583 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3586 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3587 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3588 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3589 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3593 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3594 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3599 @node Scanning New Messages
3600 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3601 @cindex new messages
3602 @cindex scanning new news
3608 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3609 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3610 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3611 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3612 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3613 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3618 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3619 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3620 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3621 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3622 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3623 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3624 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3626 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3627 @cindex activating groups
3629 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3630 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3635 @findex gnus-group-restart
3636 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3637 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3638 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3642 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3643 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3645 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3646 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3650 @node Group Information
3651 @subsection Group Information
3652 @cindex group information
3653 @cindex information on groups
3660 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3661 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3664 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3665 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3666 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3667 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3668 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3669 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3670 for fetching the file.
3672 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3673 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3677 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3679 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3680 @cindex describing groups
3681 @cindex group description
3682 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3683 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3684 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3688 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3689 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3690 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3697 @findex gnus-version
3698 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3702 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3703 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3706 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3709 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3710 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3714 @node Group Timestamp
3715 @subsection Group Timestamp
3717 @cindex group timestamps
3719 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3720 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3721 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3724 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3727 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3729 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3730 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3733 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3734 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3737 This will result in lines looking like:
3740 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3741 0: custom 19961002T012713
3744 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3745 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3749 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3750 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3755 @subsection File Commands
3756 @cindex file commands
3762 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3763 @vindex gnus-init-file
3764 @cindex reading init file
3765 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3766 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3770 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3771 @cindex saving .newsrc
3772 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3773 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3774 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3777 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3778 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3779 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3784 @node The Summary Buffer
3785 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3786 @cindex summary buffer
3788 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3789 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3791 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3792 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3794 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3797 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3798 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3799 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3800 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3801 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3802 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3803 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3804 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3805 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3806 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3807 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3808 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3809 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3810 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3811 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3812 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3813 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3814 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3815 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3816 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3817 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3818 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3819 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3820 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3821 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3822 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3823 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3824 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3828 @node Summary Buffer Format
3829 @section Summary Buffer Format
3830 @cindex summary buffer format
3834 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3835 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3836 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3842 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3843 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3844 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3845 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3848 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3849 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3850 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3851 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3852 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3853 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3854 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3855 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3856 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3857 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3858 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3859 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3860 other function instead:
3863 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3864 'mail-extract-address-components)
3867 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3868 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3869 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3870 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3873 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3874 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3876 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3877 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3878 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3879 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3880 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3882 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3884 The following format specification characters are understood:
3890 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3891 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3893 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3894 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3895 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3897 Full @code{From} header.
3899 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3901 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3902 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3904 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3905 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3906 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3907 may be more thorough.
3909 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3912 Number of lines in the article.
3914 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3915 methods (like nnfolder).
3917 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3919 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3920 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3922 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3923 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3925 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3926 for adopted articles.
3928 One space for each thread level.
3930 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3935 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3936 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3940 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3942 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3943 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3944 default level. If the difference between
3945 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3946 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3954 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3956 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3962 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3963 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3965 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3966 article has any children.
3972 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3973 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3974 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3975 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3976 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3977 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3980 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3981 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3982 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3983 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3984 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3985 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3987 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3988 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3990 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3993 @node To From Newsgroups
3994 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3998 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3999 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4000 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4001 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4002 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4006 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4007 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4008 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4012 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4013 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4016 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4017 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4020 @findex gnus-extra-header
4021 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4022 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4023 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4026 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4030 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4031 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4032 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4033 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4034 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4035 headers are used instead.
4039 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4040 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4041 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4042 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4045 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4046 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4047 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4048 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4050 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4053 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4055 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4056 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4057 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4058 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4062 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4063 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4070 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4071 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4074 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4075 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4077 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4078 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4079 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4080 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4082 Here are the elements you can play with:
4088 Unprefixed group name.
4090 Current article number.
4092 Current article score.
4096 Number of unread articles in this group.
4098 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4101 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4102 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4103 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4104 and no unselected ones.
4106 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4107 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4109 Subject of the current article.
4111 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4113 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4115 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4117 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4119 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4121 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4125 @node Summary Highlighting
4126 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4130 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4131 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4132 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4133 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4134 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4136 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4137 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4138 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4139 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4141 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4142 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4143 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4144 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4146 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4147 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4148 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4149 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4150 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4151 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4154 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4155 ((> score default) . bold))
4157 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4158 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4162 @node Summary Maneuvering
4163 @section Summary Maneuvering
4164 @cindex summary movement
4166 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4167 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4169 None of these commands select articles.
4174 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4175 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4176 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4177 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4178 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4182 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4183 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4184 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4185 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4186 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4191 @kindex G j (Summary)
4192 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4193 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4194 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4197 @kindex G g (Summary)
4198 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4199 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4200 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4203 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4204 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4205 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4206 to the group buffer.
4208 Variables related to summary movement:
4212 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4213 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4214 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4215 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4216 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4217 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4218 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4219 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4220 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4221 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4222 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4223 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4224 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4225 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4227 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4228 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4229 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4230 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4231 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4232 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4233 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4235 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4237 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4238 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4239 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4240 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4241 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4243 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4244 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4245 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4246 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4247 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4248 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4249 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4250 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4253 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4254 the given number of lines from the top.
4259 @node Choosing Articles
4260 @section Choosing Articles
4261 @cindex selecting articles
4264 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4265 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4269 @node Choosing Commands
4270 @subsection Choosing Commands
4272 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4273 and they all select and display an article.
4277 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4278 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4279 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4280 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4285 @kindex G n (Summary)
4286 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4287 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4288 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4293 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4294 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4295 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4300 @kindex G N (Summary)
4301 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4302 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4307 @kindex G P (Summary)
4308 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4309 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4312 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4313 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4314 Go to the next article with the same subject
4315 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4318 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4319 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4320 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4321 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4325 @kindex G f (Summary)
4327 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4328 Go to the first unread article
4329 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4333 @kindex G b (Summary)
4335 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4336 Go to the article with the highest score
4337 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4342 @kindex G l (Summary)
4343 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4344 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4347 @kindex G o (Summary)
4348 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4350 @cindex article history
4351 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4352 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4353 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4354 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4355 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4356 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4360 @node Choosing Variables
4361 @subsection Choosing Variables
4363 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4366 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4367 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4368 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4369 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4370 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4371 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4373 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4374 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4375 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4376 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4378 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4379 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4380 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4381 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4382 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4383 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4384 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4385 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4386 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4387 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4388 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4389 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4390 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4391 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4396 @node Paging the Article
4397 @section Scrolling the Article
4398 @cindex article scrolling
4403 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4405 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4406 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4407 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4410 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4411 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4412 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4415 @kindex RET (Summary)
4416 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4417 Scroll the current article one line forward
4418 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4421 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4422 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4423 Scroll the current article one line backward
4424 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4428 @kindex A g (Summary)
4430 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4431 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4432 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4433 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4434 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4435 the way it came from the server.
4437 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4438 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4439 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4442 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4447 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4452 @kindex A < (Summary)
4453 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4454 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4455 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4460 @kindex A > (Summary)
4461 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4462 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4466 @kindex A s (Summary)
4468 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4469 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4470 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4474 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4475 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4480 @node Reply Followup and Post
4481 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4484 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4485 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4486 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4487 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4491 @node Summary Mail Commands
4492 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4494 @cindex composing mail
4496 Commands for composing a mail message:
4502 @kindex S r (Summary)
4504 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4505 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4506 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4507 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4508 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4513 @kindex S R (Summary)
4514 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4515 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4516 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4517 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4518 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4521 @kindex S w (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4523 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4524 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4525 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4526 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4529 @kindex S W (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4531 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4532 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4533 the process/prefix convention.
4537 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4538 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4539 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4540 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4541 Forward the current article to some other person
4542 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4543 headers of the forwarded article.
4548 @kindex S m (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4550 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4551 Send a mail to some other person
4552 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4555 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4557 @cindex bouncing mail
4558 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4559 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4560 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4561 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4562 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4563 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
4564 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4565 very well fail, though.
4568 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4569 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4570 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4571 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4572 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4573 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4574 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4575 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4576 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4577 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4579 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4580 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4581 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4582 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4583 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4585 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4586 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4589 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4590 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4591 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4592 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4593 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4596 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4597 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4598 @cindex crossposting
4599 @cindex excessive crossposting
4600 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4601 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4603 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4604 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4605 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4606 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4607 command understands the process/prefix convention
4608 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4612 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4615 @node Summary Post Commands
4616 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4618 @cindex composing news
4620 Commands for posting a news article:
4626 @kindex S p (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4628 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4629 Post an article to the current group
4630 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4635 @kindex S f (Summary)
4636 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4637 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4638 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4642 @kindex S F (Summary)
4644 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4645 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4646 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4647 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4648 process/prefix convention.
4651 @kindex S n (Summary)
4652 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4653 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4654 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4657 @kindex S N (Summary)
4658 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4659 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4660 message through mail and include the original message
4661 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4662 the process/prefix convention.
4665 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4666 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4667 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4668 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4669 headers of the forwarded article.
4672 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4673 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4675 @cindex making digests
4676 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4677 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4678 process/prefix convention.
4681 @kindex S u (Summary)
4682 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4683 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4684 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4685 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4688 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4691 @node Summary Message Commands
4692 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4696 @kindex S y (Summary)
4697 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4698 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4699 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4700 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4701 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4706 @node Canceling and Superseding
4707 @subsection Canceling Articles
4708 @cindex canceling articles
4709 @cindex superseding articles
4711 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4712 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4714 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4716 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4718 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4719 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4720 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4721 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4722 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4723 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4725 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4726 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4729 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4730 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4731 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4733 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4734 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4735 your original article.
4737 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4739 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4740 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4741 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4744 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4745 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4746 have posted almost the same article twice.
4748 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4749 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4750 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4751 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4752 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4753 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4754 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4755 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4756 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4757 canceled/superseded.
4759 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4762 @node Marking Articles
4763 @section Marking Articles
4764 @cindex article marking
4765 @cindex article ticking
4768 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4770 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4771 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4772 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4774 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4777 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4778 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4779 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4783 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4787 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4788 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4789 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4793 @node Unread Articles
4794 @subsection Unread Articles
4796 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4801 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4802 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4804 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4805 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4806 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4807 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4808 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4812 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4813 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4815 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4816 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4817 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4820 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4821 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4823 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4828 @subsection Read Articles
4829 @cindex expirable mark
4831 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4836 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4837 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4838 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4841 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4842 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4845 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4846 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4847 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4850 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4851 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4854 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4855 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4858 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4859 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4862 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4863 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4866 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4867 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4870 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4871 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4874 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4875 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4879 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4880 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4881 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4885 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4886 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4888 One more special mark, though:
4892 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4893 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4895 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4896 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4897 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4898 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
4904 @subsection Other Marks
4905 @cindex process mark
4908 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4914 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4915 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4916 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4917 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4918 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4921 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4922 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4923 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4924 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4927 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4928 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4929 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4932 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4933 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4934 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4935 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4938 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4939 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4940 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4941 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4942 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4945 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4946 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4947 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4948 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4949 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4950 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4954 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4955 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4956 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4958 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4959 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4960 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4964 @subsection Setting Marks
4965 @cindex setting marks
4967 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4972 @kindex M c (Summary)
4973 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4974 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4975 @cindex mark as unread
4976 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4977 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4983 @kindex M t (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4985 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4986 @xref{Article Caching}.
4991 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4993 Mark the current article as dormant
4994 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4998 @kindex M d (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5001 Mark the current article as read
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5006 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5007 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5008 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5013 @kindex M k (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5015 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5016 and then select the next unread article
5017 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5021 @kindex M K (Summary)
5022 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5024 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5025 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5028 @kindex M C (Summary)
5029 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5030 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5031 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5034 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5036 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5037 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5040 @kindex M H (Summary)
5041 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5042 Catchup the current group to point
5043 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5046 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5047 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5048 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5049 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5052 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5054 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5055 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5059 @kindex M e (Summary)
5061 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5062 Mark the current article as expirable
5063 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5066 @kindex M b (Summary)
5067 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5068 Set a bookmark in the current article
5069 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5072 @kindex M B (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5074 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5078 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5079 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5080 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5081 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5084 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5086 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5087 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5090 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5091 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5092 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5093 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5094 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5097 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5098 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5099 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5100 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5101 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5102 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5103 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5104 The default is @code{t}.
5107 @node Generic Marking Commands
5108 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5110 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5111 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5112 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5113 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5114 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5117 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5118 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5121 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5122 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5123 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5124 to list in this manual.
5126 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5127 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5128 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5129 article, you could say something like:
5132 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5133 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5134 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5140 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5141 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5145 @node Setting Process Marks
5146 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5147 @cindex setting process marks
5154 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5155 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5156 Mark the current article with the process mark
5157 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5158 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5162 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5163 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5164 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5165 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5168 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5170 Remove the process mark from all articles
5171 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5174 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5176 Invert the list of process marked articles
5177 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5180 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5181 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5182 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5183 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5186 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5187 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5188 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5189 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5192 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5194 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5197 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5198 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5199 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5200 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5203 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5205 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5206 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5209 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5211 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5212 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5215 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5217 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5220 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5221 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5222 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5223 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5226 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5228 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5231 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5232 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5233 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5234 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5237 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5238 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5239 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5240 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5243 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5244 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5245 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5246 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5249 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5250 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5251 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5252 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5256 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5257 set process marks based on article body contents.
5264 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5265 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5266 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5269 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5270 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5271 additional articles.
5277 @kindex / / (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5279 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5280 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5283 @kindex / a (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5285 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5289 @kindex / x (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5291 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5292 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5293 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5297 @kindex / u (Summary)
5299 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5300 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5301 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5302 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5303 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5306 @kindex / m (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5308 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5309 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5312 @kindex / t (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5314 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5315 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5316 articles younger than that number of days.
5319 @kindex / n (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5321 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5322 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5323 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5326 @kindex / w (Summary)
5327 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5328 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5329 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5333 @kindex / v (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5335 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5336 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5340 @kindex M S (Summary)
5341 @kindex / E (Summary)
5342 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5343 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5344 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5347 @kindex / D (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5349 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5350 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5353 @kindex / * (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5355 Include all cached articles in the limit
5356 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5359 @kindex / d (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5361 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5362 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5365 @kindex / M (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5367 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5370 @kindex / T (Summary)
5371 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5372 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5375 @kindex / c (Summary)
5376 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5377 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5378 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5381 @kindex / C (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5383 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5384 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5385 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5393 @cindex article threading
5395 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5396 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5397 hierarchical fashion.
5399 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5400 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5401 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5402 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5403 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5404 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5405 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5407 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5411 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5414 A tree-like article structure.
5417 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5420 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5421 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5422 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5423 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5424 called loose threads.
5426 @item thread gathering
5427 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5429 @item sparse threads
5430 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5431 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5437 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5438 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5442 @node Customizing Threading
5443 @subsection Customizing Threading
5444 @cindex customizing threading
5447 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5448 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5449 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5450 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5455 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5458 @cindex loose threads
5461 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5462 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5463 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5464 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5465 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5466 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5468 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
5469 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
5470 There are four possible values:
5474 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5475 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5476 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5477 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5478 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5483 @cindex adopting articles
5488 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5489 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5490 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5491 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5494 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5495 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5496 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5497 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5498 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5499 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5500 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5503 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5504 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5505 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5509 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5510 display them after one another.
5513 Don't gather loose threads.
5516 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5517 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5518 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5519 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
5520 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5521 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5522 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5523 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5524 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5525 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
5526 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5528 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5529 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
5530 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5533 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5534 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5535 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5536 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5537 simplification is used.
5539 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5540 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5541 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5542 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5544 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5546 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5552 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5553 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5554 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5555 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5560 (mapconcat 'identity
5561 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5563 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5566 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5569 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5570 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5571 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5572 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5573 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5574 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5576 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5579 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5580 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5581 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5583 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5584 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5587 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5588 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5589 Remove excessive whitespace.
5592 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5595 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5596 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5597 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5598 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5599 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5600 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5601 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5602 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5604 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5605 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5606 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5607 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5608 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5609 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5610 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5611 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5612 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5616 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5617 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5618 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5619 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5621 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5622 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5623 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5626 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5630 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5631 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5637 @node Filling In Threads
5638 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5641 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5642 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5643 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5644 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5645 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5646 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5647 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5648 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5649 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5650 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5651 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5652 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5654 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5655 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5656 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5658 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5659 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5660 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5661 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5662 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5663 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5664 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5665 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5666 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5667 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5668 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5669 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5670 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5671 @code{nil} by default.
5676 @node More Threading
5677 @subsubsection More Threading
5680 @item gnus-show-threads
5681 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5682 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5683 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5684 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5685 slower and more awkward.
5687 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5688 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5689 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5692 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5693 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5694 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5695 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5696 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5697 threads are expunged.
5699 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5700 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5701 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5704 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5705 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5706 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5707 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5708 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5711 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5712 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5713 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5716 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5717 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5718 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5719 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5720 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5721 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5722 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5723 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5724 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5725 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5726 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5731 @node Low-Level Threading
5732 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5736 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5737 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5738 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5739 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5740 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5741 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5743 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5744 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5745 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5746 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5747 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5748 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5749 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5750 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5751 meaningful. Here's one example:
5754 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5756 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5757 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5759 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5761 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5768 @node Thread Commands
5769 @subsection Thread Commands
5770 @cindex thread commands
5776 @kindex T k (Summary)
5777 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5778 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5779 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5780 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5781 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5786 @kindex T l (Summary)
5787 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5788 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5789 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5790 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5793 @kindex T i (Summary)
5794 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5795 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5796 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5799 @kindex T # (Summary)
5800 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5801 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5802 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5805 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5806 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5807 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5808 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5811 @kindex T T (Summary)
5812 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5813 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5816 @kindex T s (Summary)
5817 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5818 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5819 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5822 @kindex T h (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5824 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5827 @kindex T S (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5829 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5832 @kindex T H (Summary)
5833 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5834 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5837 @kindex T t (Summary)
5838 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5839 Re-thread the current article's thread
5840 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5841 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5844 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5845 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5846 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5847 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5851 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5852 understand the numeric prefix.
5857 @kindex T n (Summary)
5859 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5861 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5862 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5863 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5866 @kindex T p (Summary)
5868 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5870 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5871 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5872 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5875 @kindex T d (Summary)
5876 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5877 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5880 @kindex T u (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5882 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5885 @kindex T o (Summary)
5886 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5887 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5890 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5891 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5892 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5893 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5894 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5895 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5896 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5897 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5898 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5899 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5900 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5901 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5908 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5909 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5910 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5911 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5912 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5913 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5914 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5915 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5916 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5917 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5918 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5920 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5921 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5922 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5923 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5924 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5926 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5927 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5928 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5930 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5931 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5932 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5933 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5934 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5935 ascending article order.
5937 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5938 by number, you could do something like:
5941 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5942 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5943 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5944 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5947 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5948 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5949 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5950 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5951 which the articles arrived.
5953 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5957 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5959 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5960 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5963 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5964 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5965 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5966 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5969 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5970 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5971 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5972 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5973 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5974 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5975 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5976 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5977 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5978 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5979 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5980 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5981 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5983 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5987 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5988 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5989 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5994 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5995 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5996 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5997 @cindex article pre-fetch
6000 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6001 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6002 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6003 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6004 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6006 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6007 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6009 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6010 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6011 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6012 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6013 connection is blocked.
6015 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6016 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6017 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6018 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6020 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6021 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6022 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6023 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6026 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6029 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6030 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6031 happen automatically.
6033 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6034 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6035 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6036 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6037 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6038 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6039 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6041 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6042 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6043 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6044 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6045 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6046 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6047 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6048 data structure as the only parameter.
6050 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6053 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6054 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6055 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6056 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6059 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6062 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6063 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6064 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6066 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6067 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6068 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6069 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6073 Remove articles when they are read.
6076 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6079 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6081 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6082 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6083 @c from the next group.
6086 @node Article Caching
6087 @section Article Caching
6088 @cindex article caching
6091 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6092 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6093 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6094 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6095 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6097 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6099 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6100 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6101 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6102 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6103 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6104 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6105 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6106 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6108 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6109 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6110 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6111 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6112 as dormant, and don't worry.
6114 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6116 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6117 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6118 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6119 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6120 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6121 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6122 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6123 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6124 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6125 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6127 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6128 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6129 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6130 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6131 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6132 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6133 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6134 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6135 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6136 not then be downloaded by this command.
6138 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6139 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6140 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6141 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6142 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6143 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6145 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6146 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6147 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6148 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6149 variables, the group is not cached.
6151 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6152 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6153 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6154 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6155 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6156 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6157 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6158 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6159 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6163 @node Persistent Articles
6164 @section Persistent Articles
6165 @cindex persistent articles
6167 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6168 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6169 useful in my opinion.
6171 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6172 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6173 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6174 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6175 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6176 the expiry going on at the news server.
6178 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6179 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6180 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6186 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6187 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6190 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6191 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6192 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6193 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6197 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6199 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6200 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6201 interested in persistent articles:
6204 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6208 @node Article Backlog
6209 @section Article Backlog
6211 @cindex article backlog
6213 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6214 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6215 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6216 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6217 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6218 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6219 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6220 increase memory usage some.
6222 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6223 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6224 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6225 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6226 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6227 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6228 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6230 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6233 @node Saving Articles
6234 @section Saving Articles
6235 @cindex saving articles
6237 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6238 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6239 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6240 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6241 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6243 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6244 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6245 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6247 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6248 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6249 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6250 deleted before saving.
6256 @kindex O o (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6259 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6260 Save the current article using the default article saver
6261 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6264 @kindex O m (Summary)
6265 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6266 Save the current article in mail format
6267 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6270 @kindex O r (Summary)
6271 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6272 Save the current article in rmail format
6273 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6276 @kindex O f (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6278 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6279 Save the current article in plain file format
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6283 @kindex O F (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6285 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6286 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6289 @kindex O b (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6291 Save the current article body in plain file format
6292 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6295 @kindex O h (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6297 Save the current article in mh folder format
6298 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6301 @kindex O v (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6303 Save the current article in a VM folder
6304 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6307 @kindex O p (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6309 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6310 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6313 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6314 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6315 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6316 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6317 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6318 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6319 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6320 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6321 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6322 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6323 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6324 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6328 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6329 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6330 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6331 functions below, or you can create your own.
6335 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6336 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6337 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6338 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6339 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6340 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6341 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6343 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6344 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6345 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6346 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6347 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6348 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6350 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6351 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6352 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6353 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6354 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6355 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6356 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6358 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6359 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6360 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6361 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6362 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6364 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6365 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6366 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6367 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6368 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6371 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6372 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6373 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6374 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6375 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6377 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6378 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6379 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6380 reader to use this setting.
6383 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6384 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6385 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6386 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6389 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6390 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6391 available functions that generate names:
6395 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6396 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6397 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6399 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6400 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6401 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6403 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6404 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6405 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6407 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6408 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6409 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6412 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6413 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6414 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6415 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6416 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6420 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6421 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6422 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6423 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6426 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6427 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6428 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6429 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6430 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6431 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6432 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6433 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6434 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6436 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6437 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6438 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6439 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6441 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6442 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6443 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6446 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6447 lots of mail groups called things like
6448 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6449 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6450 following will do just that:
6453 (defun my-save-name (group)
6454 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6455 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6457 (setq gnus-split-methods
6458 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6463 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6464 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6465 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6466 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6467 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6468 all the files in the top level directory
6469 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6470 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6471 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6472 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6474 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6475 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6476 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6477 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6478 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6481 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6485 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6486 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6489 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6490 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6491 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6492 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6495 @node Decoding Articles
6496 @section Decoding Articles
6497 @cindex decoding articles
6499 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6500 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6503 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6504 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6505 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6506 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6507 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6508 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6512 @cindex article series
6513 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6514 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6515 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6516 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6517 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6519 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6520 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6521 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6523 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
6524 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6525 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6527 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6528 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6529 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6532 @node Uuencoded Articles
6533 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6535 @cindex uuencoded articles
6540 @kindex X u (Summary)
6541 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6542 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6543 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6546 @kindex X U (Summary)
6547 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6548 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6549 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6552 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6553 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6554 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6557 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6558 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6559 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6560 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6564 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6565 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6566 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6567 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6568 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6570 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6571 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6572 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6573 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6576 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6577 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6578 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6579 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6580 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6581 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6585 @node Shell Archives
6586 @subsection Shell Archives
6588 @cindex shell archives
6589 @cindex shared articles
6591 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6592 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6593 some commands to deal with these:
6598 @kindex X s (Summary)
6599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6600 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6603 @kindex X S (Summary)
6604 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6605 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6608 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6609 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6610 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6613 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6614 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6615 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6616 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6620 @node PostScript Files
6621 @subsection PostScript Files
6627 @kindex X p (Summary)
6628 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6629 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6632 @kindex X P (Summary)
6633 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6634 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6635 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6638 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6639 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6640 View the current PostScript series
6641 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6644 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6646 View and save the current PostScript series
6647 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6652 @subsection Other Files
6656 @kindex X o (Summary)
6657 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6658 Save the current series
6659 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6662 @kindex X b (Summary)
6663 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6664 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6665 doesn't really work yet.
6669 @node Decoding Variables
6670 @subsection Decoding Variables
6672 Adjective, not verb.
6675 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6676 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6677 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6681 @node Rule Variables
6682 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6683 @cindex rule variables
6685 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6686 variables are of the form
6689 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6696 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6697 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6699 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6700 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6703 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6704 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6707 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6708 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6709 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6710 user and default view rules.
6712 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6713 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6714 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6719 @node Other Decode Variables
6720 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6723 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6725 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6726 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6727 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6728 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6729 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6733 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6734 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6737 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6738 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6739 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6742 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6743 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6744 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6745 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6746 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6749 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6750 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6751 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6753 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6754 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6755 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6756 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6757 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6760 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6761 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6762 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6764 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6765 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6766 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6767 looking for files to display.
6769 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6770 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6771 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6774 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6775 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6776 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6779 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6780 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6781 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6784 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6785 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6786 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6789 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6790 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6791 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6792 decoded articles as unread.
6794 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6795 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6796 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6797 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6799 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6800 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6801 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6803 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6804 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6806 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6807 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6808 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6809 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6811 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6812 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6813 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6814 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6815 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6816 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6817 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6818 simply dropped them.
6823 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6824 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6828 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6829 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6830 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6831 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6832 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6833 for you when you post the article.
6835 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6836 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6837 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6838 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6840 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6841 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6842 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6843 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6844 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6845 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6846 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6848 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6849 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6850 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6851 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6852 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6853 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6854 Default is @code{t}.
6860 @subsection Viewing Files
6861 @cindex viewing files
6862 @cindex pseudo-articles
6864 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6865 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6866 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6867 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6868 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6869 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6870 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6872 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6873 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6874 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6875 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6877 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6878 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6879 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6881 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6882 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6883 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6884 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6885 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6887 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6888 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6889 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6890 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6891 a list of parameters to that command.
6893 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6894 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6895 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6897 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6898 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6899 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6902 @node Article Treatment
6903 @section Article Treatment
6905 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6906 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6907 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6908 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6909 these articles easier.
6912 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6913 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6914 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6915 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6916 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6917 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6918 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6919 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6923 @node Article Highlighting
6924 @subsection Article Highlighting
6925 @cindex highlighting
6927 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6928 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6933 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6934 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6935 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6936 Do much highlighting of the current article
6937 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6938 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6941 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6942 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6943 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6944 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6945 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6946 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6947 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6948 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6949 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6950 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6951 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6952 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6955 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6956 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6957 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6959 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6962 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6964 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6965 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6966 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6968 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6969 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6970 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6972 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6973 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6974 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6976 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6977 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6978 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6979 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6980 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6981 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6983 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6984 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6985 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6987 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6988 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6989 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6991 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6992 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6993 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6994 that it's a citation.
6996 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6997 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6998 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7000 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7001 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7002 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7004 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7005 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7006 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7007 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7013 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7014 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7015 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7016 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7017 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7018 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7019 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7020 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7025 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7028 @node Article Fontisizing
7029 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7031 @cindex article emphasis
7033 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7034 @kindex W e (Summary)
7035 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7036 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7037 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7038 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7040 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7041 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7042 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7043 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7044 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7045 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7046 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7047 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7051 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7052 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7053 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7062 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7063 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7064 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7065 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7066 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7067 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7068 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7069 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7070 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7071 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7072 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7073 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7074 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7076 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7077 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7078 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7082 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7085 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7087 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7088 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7089 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7090 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7092 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7095 @node Article Hiding
7096 @subsection Article Hiding
7097 @cindex article hiding
7099 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7100 too much cruft in most articles.
7105 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7106 @findex gnus-article-hide
7107 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7108 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7109 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7112 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7113 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7114 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7118 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7119 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7120 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7121 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7124 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7125 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7126 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7130 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7131 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7132 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7133 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}.
7134 These are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of
7135 all @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any
7136 leading @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping.
7140 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7141 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7142 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7143 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7148 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7150 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7151 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7152 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7153 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7154 articles that have signatures in them do:
7156 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7158 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7160 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7161 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7163 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7166 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7171 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7172 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7173 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7174 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7177 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7178 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7181 @cindex stripping advertisments
7182 @cindex advertisments
7183 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7184 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7185 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7186 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7187 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7188 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7189 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7190 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7191 signature should be removed.
7194 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7195 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7196 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7197 customizing the hiding:
7201 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7202 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7203 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7204 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7205 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7206 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7207 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7212 Starting point of the hidden text.
7214 Ending point of the hidden text.
7216 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7218 Number of lines of hidden text.
7221 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7222 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7223 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7224 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7225 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7230 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7231 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7233 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7234 following two variables:
7237 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7238 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7239 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7240 50), hide the cited text.
7242 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7243 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7244 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7249 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7250 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7251 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7252 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7253 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7254 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7258 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7259 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7260 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7262 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7263 citation customization.
7265 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7269 @node Article Washing
7270 @subsection Article Washing
7272 @cindex article washing
7274 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7275 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7277 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7278 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7284 @kindex W l (Summary)
7285 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7286 Remove page breaks from the current article
7287 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7291 @kindex W r (Summary)
7292 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7293 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7294 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7295 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7296 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7297 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7299 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7300 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7301 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7302 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7306 @kindex W t (Summary)
7308 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7309 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7310 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}).
7313 @kindex W v (Summary)
7314 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7315 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7316 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7319 @kindex W m (Summary)
7320 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7321 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7322 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7325 @kindex W o (Summary)
7326 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7327 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7330 @kindex W d (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7332 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7334 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7336 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7337 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7338 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7339 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7343 @kindex W w (Summary)
7344 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7345 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7347 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7351 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7352 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7353 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7356 @kindex W C (Summary)
7357 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7358 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7359 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7362 @kindex W c (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7364 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7365 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7366 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7367 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7370 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7371 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7372 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7373 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7374 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7375 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7376 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7380 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7382 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7383 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7384 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7387 @kindex W h (Summary)
7388 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7389 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7390 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7391 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7395 @kindex W f (Summary)
7397 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7398 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7399 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7400 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7406 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7407 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7408 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7409 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7410 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7411 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7412 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7413 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7414 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7415 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7416 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7417 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7418 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7419 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7420 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7421 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7422 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7423 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7424 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7425 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7429 @kindex W b (Summary)
7430 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7431 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7432 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7435 @kindex W B (Summary)
7436 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7437 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7438 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7441 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7442 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7443 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7444 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7447 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7448 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7449 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7450 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7453 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7454 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7455 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7456 lines with a single empty line.
7457 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7460 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7461 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7462 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7463 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7466 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7467 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7468 Do all the three commands above
7469 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7472 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7473 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7474 Remove all blank lines
7475 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7478 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7479 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7480 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7481 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7484 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7485 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7486 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7487 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7491 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7494 @node Article Buttons
7495 @subsection Article Buttons
7498 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7499 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7500 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7501 button on these references.
7503 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7504 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7505 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7510 @item gnus-button-alist
7511 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7512 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7515 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7521 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7522 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7523 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7526 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7527 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7528 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7531 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7532 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7533 avoid false matches.
7536 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7539 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7540 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7544 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7547 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7550 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7551 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7552 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7553 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7554 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7557 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7560 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7562 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7563 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7564 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7565 default values of the variables above.
7567 @item gnus-article-button-face
7568 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7569 Face used on buttons.
7571 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7572 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7573 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7577 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7581 @subsection Article Date
7583 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7584 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7585 when the article was sent.
7590 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7591 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7592 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7593 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7596 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7597 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7599 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7600 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7603 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7604 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7605 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7608 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7609 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7610 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7611 @findex format-time-string
7612 Display the date using a user-defined format
7613 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7614 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7615 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7616 for a list of possible format specs.
7619 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7620 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7621 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7622 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7623 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7624 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7627 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7630 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7631 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7634 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7635 into wonderful absurdities.
7637 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7640 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7643 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7644 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7648 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7649 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7650 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7651 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7652 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7653 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7654 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7658 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7659 preferred format automatically.
7662 @node Article Signature
7663 @subsection Article Signature
7665 @cindex article signature
7667 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7668 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7669 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7670 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7671 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7672 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7673 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7674 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7675 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7678 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7679 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7680 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7681 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7682 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7683 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7684 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7685 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7688 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7691 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7692 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7693 signature when displaying articles.
7697 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7700 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7703 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7704 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7706 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7707 in question is not a signature.
7710 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7711 listed above. Here's an example:
7714 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7715 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7718 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7719 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7720 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7721 signature after all.
7724 @node Article Miscellania
7725 @subsection Article Miscellania
7729 @kindex A t (Summary)
7730 @findex gnus-article-babel
7731 Translate the article from one language to another
7732 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7738 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7739 @cindex MIME decoding
7741 @cindex viewing attachments
7743 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7744 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7750 @kindex K v (Summary)
7751 View the @sc{mime} part.
7754 @kindex K o (Summary)
7755 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7758 @kindex K c (Summary)
7759 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7762 @kindex K e (Summary)
7763 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7766 @kindex K i (Summary)
7767 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7770 @kindex K | (Summary)
7771 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7774 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7779 @kindex K b (Summary)
7780 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7781 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7785 @kindex K m (Summary)
7786 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7787 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7788 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7789 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7790 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7793 @kindex X m (Summary)
7794 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7795 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7796 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7797 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7800 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7801 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7802 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7803 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7806 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7807 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7808 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7811 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7812 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7813 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7815 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7816 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7817 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7818 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7819 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7820 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7823 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7824 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7825 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7832 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7833 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7834 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7835 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7838 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7841 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7845 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7846 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7847 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7848 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7849 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7851 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7852 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7853 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7854 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7855 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7856 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7857 save all jpegs into some directory).
7859 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7862 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7863 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7865 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7866 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7867 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7868 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7869 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7872 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7873 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7874 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7883 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7884 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7885 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7886 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7887 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7888 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7889 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7891 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7892 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7893 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7894 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7896 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7897 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7898 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7899 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7900 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7901 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7902 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7903 something some agents insist on having in there.
7905 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7906 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7907 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7908 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7909 quoted-printable header encoding.
7911 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7912 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7913 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7917 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7920 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7921 means encode all charsets),
7923 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7924 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7925 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7932 @cindex coding system aliases
7933 @cindex preferred charset
7935 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7937 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7938 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7941 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7942 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7945 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7946 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7948 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7951 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7954 This will almost do the right thing.
7956 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7960 (codepage-setup 1251)
7961 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7965 @node Article Commands
7966 @section Article Commands
7973 @kindex A P (Summary)
7974 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7975 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7976 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7977 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7978 run just before printing the buffer.
7983 @node Summary Sorting
7984 @section Summary Sorting
7985 @cindex summary sorting
7987 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7988 can't really see why you'd want that.
7993 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7994 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7995 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7998 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7999 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8000 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8003 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8004 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8005 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8008 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8009 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8010 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8013 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8014 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8015 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8018 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8019 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8020 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8023 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8024 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8025 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8028 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8029 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8030 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8031 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8032 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8036 @node Finding the Parent
8037 @section Finding the Parent
8038 @cindex parent articles
8039 @cindex referring articles
8044 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8045 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8046 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8047 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8048 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8049 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8050 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8051 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8052 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8054 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8055 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8056 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
8057 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8058 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8062 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8063 @kindex A R (Summary)
8064 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8065 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8068 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8069 @kindex A T (Summary)
8070 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8071 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8072 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8073 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8074 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8075 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8076 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8078 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8079 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8080 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8081 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8082 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8083 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8086 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8087 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8089 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8090 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8091 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8092 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8093 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8094 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8095 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8098 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8099 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8100 by giving this command a prefix.
8102 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8103 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8104 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8105 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8106 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8107 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8110 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8111 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8112 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8115 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8116 then ask Deja if that fails:
8119 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8121 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8124 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8125 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8126 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8127 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8128 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8129 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8132 @node Alternative Approaches
8133 @section Alternative Approaches
8135 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8136 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8139 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8140 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8145 @subsection Pick and Read
8146 @cindex pick and read
8148 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8149 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8150 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8151 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8153 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8154 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8155 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8156 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8157 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8158 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8160 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8165 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8166 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8167 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8168 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8169 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8170 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8171 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8172 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8175 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8176 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8177 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8178 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8182 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8183 Unpick the thread or article
8184 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8185 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8186 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8187 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8188 the thread or article at that line.
8192 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8193 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8194 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8195 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8196 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8197 will still be visible when you are reading.
8201 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8202 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8203 which is mapped to the same function
8204 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8206 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8209 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8212 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8213 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8215 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8216 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8217 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8219 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8220 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8221 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8222 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8223 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8224 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8225 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8229 @subsection Binary Groups
8230 @cindex binary groups
8232 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8233 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8234 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8235 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8236 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8237 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8238 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8241 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8242 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8243 command, when you have turned on this mode
8244 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8246 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8247 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8251 @section Tree Display
8254 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8255 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
8256 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8257 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8260 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8263 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8264 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8265 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8267 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8268 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8269 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8270 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8271 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8273 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8274 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8275 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8276 default is @code{modeline}.
8278 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8279 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8280 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8281 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8282 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8283 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8284 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8290 The name of the poster.
8292 The @code{From} header.
8294 The number of the article.
8296 The opening bracket.
8298 The closing bracket.
8303 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8305 Variables related to the display are:
8308 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8309 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8310 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8311 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8312 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8313 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8315 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8316 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8317 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8318 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8322 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8323 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8324 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
8325 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
8326 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8327 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8328 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8329 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8330 other windows displayed next to it.
8332 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8333 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8334 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8335 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8336 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8337 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8338 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8342 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8345 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8355 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8359 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8360 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8362 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8364 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8369 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8370 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8371 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8374 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8375 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8376 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8377 (gnus-add-configuration
8381 (summary 0.75 point)
8386 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8389 @node Mail Group Commands
8390 @section Mail Group Commands
8391 @cindex mail group commands
8393 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8394 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8396 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8397 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8402 @kindex B e (Summary)
8403 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8404 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8405 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8408 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8409 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8410 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8411 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8412 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8413 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8416 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8417 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8418 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8419 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8420 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8421 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8424 @kindex B m (Summary)
8426 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8427 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8428 Move the article from one mail group to another
8429 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8430 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8433 @kindex B c (Summary)
8435 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8436 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8437 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8438 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8439 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8442 @kindex B B (Summary)
8443 @cindex crosspost mail
8444 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8445 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8446 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8447 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8448 be properly updated.
8451 @kindex B i (Summary)
8452 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8453 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8454 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8455 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8458 @kindex B r (Summary)
8459 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8460 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8461 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8462 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8463 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8464 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8465 (which is the default).
8469 @kindex B w (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8472 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8473 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8474 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8475 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8476 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8479 @kindex B q (Summary)
8480 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8481 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8482 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8483 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8486 @kindex B t (Summary)
8487 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8488 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8489 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8492 @kindex B p (Summary)
8493 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8494 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8495 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8496 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8497 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8498 article from your news server (or rather, from
8499 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8500 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8501 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8502 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8503 just not have arrived yet.
8507 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8508 @cindex moving articles
8509 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
8510 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8511 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8512 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8513 suggestions you find reasonable.
8516 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8517 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8518 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8519 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8523 @node Various Summary Stuff
8524 @section Various Summary Stuff
8527 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8528 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8529 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8530 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8534 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8535 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8536 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8538 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8539 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8540 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8541 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8542 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8543 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8546 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8547 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8548 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8549 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8550 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8552 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8553 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8554 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8557 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8558 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8559 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8560 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8561 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8562 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8563 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
8564 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8565 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8566 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8568 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8569 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8570 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8571 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8572 list of articles to be selected.
8574 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8575 the list in one particular group:
8578 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8579 (if (string= group "some.group")
8580 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8587 @node Summary Group Information
8588 @subsection Summary Group Information
8593 @kindex H f (Summary)
8594 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8595 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8596 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8597 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8598 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8599 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8600 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8601 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8602 be used for fetching the file.
8605 @kindex H d (Summary)
8606 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8607 Give a brief description of the current group
8608 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8609 rereading the description from the server.
8612 @kindex H h (Summary)
8613 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8614 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8615 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8618 @kindex H i (Summary)
8619 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8620 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8624 @node Searching for Articles
8625 @subsection Searching for Articles
8630 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8631 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8632 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8633 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8636 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8637 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8638 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8639 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8643 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8644 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8645 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8646 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8647 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8648 search backward instead.
8650 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8651 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8654 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8655 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8656 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8657 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8660 @node Summary Generation Commands
8661 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8666 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8667 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8668 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8671 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8672 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8673 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8674 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8679 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8680 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8686 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8687 @kindex A D (Summary)
8688 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8689 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8690 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8691 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8692 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8693 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8694 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8695 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8699 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8700 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8701 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8702 several documents into one biiig group
8703 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8704 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8705 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8706 command understands the process/prefix convention
8707 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8710 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8711 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8712 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8713 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8714 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8715 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8719 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8720 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8721 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8724 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8726 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8727 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8730 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8732 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8733 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8738 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8739 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8740 @cindex summary exit
8741 @cindex exiting groups
8743 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8744 group and return you to the group buffer.
8750 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8752 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8753 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8754 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8755 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8756 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8757 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8758 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8759 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8760 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8761 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8762 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8766 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8769 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8770 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8774 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8776 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8777 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8778 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8779 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8782 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8783 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8784 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8785 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8788 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8789 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8790 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8791 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8794 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8795 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8796 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8797 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8798 all articles, both read and unread.
8802 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8803 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8804 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8805 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8806 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8807 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8808 articles, both read and unread.
8811 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8812 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8813 Exit the group and go to the next group
8814 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8817 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8818 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8819 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8820 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8823 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8824 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8825 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8826 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8827 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8828 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8831 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8832 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8833 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8834 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8836 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8837 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8838 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8839 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8840 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8841 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8842 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8843 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8844 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8845 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8846 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8847 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8849 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8851 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8852 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8853 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8854 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8855 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8856 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8857 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8858 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8859 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8862 @node Crosspost Handling
8863 @section Crosspost Handling
8867 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8868 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8869 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8870 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8871 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8872 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8875 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8876 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8877 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8878 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8879 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8881 @cindex cross-posting
8884 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8885 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8886 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8887 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8888 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8889 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8890 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8891 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8892 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8893 the cross reference mechanism.
8895 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8896 @cindex overview.fmt
8897 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8898 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8899 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8900 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8901 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8902 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8905 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8906 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8907 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8912 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8915 @node Duplicate Suppression
8916 @section Duplicate Suppression
8918 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8919 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8920 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8921 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8926 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8927 is evil and not very common.
8930 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8931 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8934 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8935 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8938 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8941 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8942 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8944 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8945 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8946 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8947 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8948 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8949 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8950 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8953 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8954 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8955 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8956 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8957 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8961 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8962 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8963 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8965 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8966 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8967 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8968 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8969 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
8970 session are suppressed.
8972 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8973 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8974 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8975 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8977 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8978 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8979 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8980 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8983 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
8984 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8985 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8986 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8987 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
8988 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8989 to you to figure out, I think.
8992 @node The Article Buffer
8993 @chapter The Article Buffer
8994 @cindex article buffer
8996 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8997 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8998 tell gnus otherwise.
9001 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9002 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9003 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9004 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9005 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9009 @node Hiding Headers
9010 @section Hiding Headers
9011 @cindex hiding headers
9012 @cindex deleting headers
9014 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9015 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9017 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9018 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9019 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9020 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9021 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9022 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9023 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9024 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9025 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9027 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9031 @item gnus-visible-headers
9032 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9033 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9034 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9035 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9037 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9038 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9041 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9044 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9047 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9048 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9049 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9050 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9051 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9052 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9054 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
9055 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
9058 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9061 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9064 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9065 variable will have no effect.
9069 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9070 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9071 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9072 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9073 the headers are to be displayed.
9075 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9076 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9079 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9082 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9083 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9085 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9086 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9087 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9088 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9089 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9090 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9091 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9094 These conditions are:
9097 Remove all empty headers.
9099 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9100 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9102 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9105 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9108 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9111 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9113 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9116 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9119 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9120 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9123 This is also the default value for this variable.
9127 @section Using @sc{mime}
9130 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9131 while people stand around yawning.
9133 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9134 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9136 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9137 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9138 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9140 @vindex gnus-show-mime
9141 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
9142 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
9143 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
9144 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
9145 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
9146 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
9147 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
9148 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
9149 existed yet, sorry).
9151 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
9152 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
9153 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
9154 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
9155 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
9156 buffer. These can't be avoided.
9158 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
9159 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
9160 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
9161 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
9162 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
9163 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
9164 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
9165 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
9166 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
9169 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9171 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
9172 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
9173 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
9174 buffer when there are nobody else.
9176 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9179 @node Customizing Articles
9180 @section Customizing Articles
9181 @cindex article customization
9183 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9184 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9185 called automatically when you select the articles.
9187 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9188 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9189 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9190 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9192 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9193 for sensible values.
9197 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9200 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9203 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9206 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9209 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9213 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9214 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9215 regexps in the list.
9218 A list where the first element is not a string:
9220 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9221 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9222 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9226 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9230 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
9235 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9236 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9237 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9238 considered to contain just a single part.
9240 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9241 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9242 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9243 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9244 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9245 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9246 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9248 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9249 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9250 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9251 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9254 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9255 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9256 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9257 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9258 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9259 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9260 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9261 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9262 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9263 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9264 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9265 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9266 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9267 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9268 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9269 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9270 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9271 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9272 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9273 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9274 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9275 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9276 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9277 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9278 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9279 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9280 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9281 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9282 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9283 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9284 @item gnus-treat-translate
9285 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
9288 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9289 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9290 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9291 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9292 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9296 @node Article Keymap
9297 @section Article Keymap
9299 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9300 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9301 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9302 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9305 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9310 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9311 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9312 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9315 @kindex DEL (Article)
9316 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9317 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9320 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9321 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9322 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9323 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9324 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9327 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9328 @findex gnus-article-mail
9329 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9330 given a prefix, include the mail.
9334 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9335 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9336 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9340 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9341 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9342 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9345 @kindex TAB (Article)
9346 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9347 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9348 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9351 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9352 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9353 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9359 @section Misc Article
9363 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9364 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9365 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9366 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9369 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9370 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9372 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9373 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9375 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9376 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9377 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9378 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9379 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9380 the contents of the article buffer.
9382 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9383 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9384 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9386 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9387 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9388 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9389 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9391 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9392 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9393 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9394 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9395 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9400 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9401 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9404 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9407 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9409 @item gnus-break-pages
9410 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9411 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9412 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9413 paging will not be done.
9415 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9416 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9417 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9422 @node Composing Messages
9423 @chapter Composing Messages
9424 @cindex composing messages
9427 @cindex sending mail
9432 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9433 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9434 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9435 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9436 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9437 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9440 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9441 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9442 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9443 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9444 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9445 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9446 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9447 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9450 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9451 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9457 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9460 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9461 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9462 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9463 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9465 @item gnus-add-to-list
9466 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9467 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9468 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9470 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
9471 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
9472 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
9473 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
9474 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
9482 Variables for composing news articles:
9485 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9486 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9487 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9488 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9489 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9490 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9491 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9492 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9493 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
9496 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9497 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9498 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9499 file. It is 1000 by default.
9504 @node Posting Server
9505 @section Posting Server
9507 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9508 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9510 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9512 @vindex gnus-post-method
9514 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
9515 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9516 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9517 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9518 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9521 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9524 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9525 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9526 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9527 the ``current'' server for posting.
9529 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9530 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9532 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9533 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9536 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9537 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9538 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9543 @section Mail and Post
9545 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9549 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9550 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9551 @cindex mailing lists
9553 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9554 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9555 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9556 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9557 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9558 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9559 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9560 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9561 still a pain, though.
9565 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9566 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9567 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9570 @findex ispell-message
9572 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9575 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9576 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9579 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9582 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9583 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9585 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9588 Modify to suit your needs.
9591 @node Archived Messages
9592 @section Archived Messages
9593 @cindex archived messages
9594 @cindex sent messages
9596 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9597 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9598 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9599 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9602 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9603 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
9604 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9608 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9609 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9610 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9611 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9614 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9615 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9616 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9617 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9620 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9621 '(nnfolder "archive"
9622 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9623 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9624 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9627 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9629 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9630 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9631 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9633 This variable can be used to do the following:
9637 Messages will be saved in that group.
9638 @item a list of strings
9639 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9640 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9641 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9643 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9648 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9650 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9653 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9655 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9658 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9660 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9661 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9662 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9663 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9668 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9669 '((if (message-news-p)
9674 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9675 messages in one file per month:
9678 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9679 '((if (message-news-p)
9681 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9684 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9685 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9687 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9688 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9689 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9690 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9691 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9692 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9693 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9694 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9695 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9696 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9698 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9699 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9700 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9701 this will disable archiving.
9704 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9705 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9706 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9707 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9708 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9711 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9712 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9713 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9716 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9717 but the latter is the preferred method.
9721 @node Posting Styles
9722 @section Posting Styles
9723 @cindex posting styles
9726 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9728 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9729 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9730 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9733 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9734 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9735 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9736 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9737 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9742 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9743 (organization "What me?"))
9745 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9746 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9747 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9750 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9751 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9752 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9753 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9754 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9755 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9756 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9757 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9759 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9760 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9761 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9762 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9763 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9764 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9765 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9766 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9769 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9770 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9771 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9772 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9773 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9774 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9775 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9776 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9777 result is thrown away.
9779 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9780 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9781 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9782 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9783 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9784 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9786 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9787 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9788 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9790 @findex message-mail-p
9791 @findex message-news-p
9793 So here's a new example:
9796 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9798 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9800 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9801 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9803 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9804 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9805 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9807 (signature my-news-signature))
9808 (header "From.*To" "larsi.*org"
9809 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9810 ((posting-from-work-p)
9811 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9812 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9813 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9814 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9816 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9824 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9825 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9826 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9827 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9828 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9830 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9831 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9832 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9833 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9834 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9838 @vindex nndraft-directory
9839 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9840 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9841 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9842 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9843 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9844 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9846 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9847 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9850 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9851 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9852 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9853 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9854 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9855 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9856 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9857 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9858 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9859 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9860 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9861 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9862 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9863 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9865 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9866 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9867 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9869 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9871 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9872 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9873 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9875 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9878 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9879 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9880 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9881 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9882 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9883 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9884 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9887 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9888 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9889 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9892 @node Rejected Articles
9893 @section Rejected Articles
9894 @cindex rejected articles
9896 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9897 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9898 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9899 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9901 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
9902 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9903 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9904 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
9905 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9907 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9908 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9909 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9912 @node Select Methods
9913 @chapter Select Methods
9914 @cindex foreign groups
9915 @cindex select methods
9917 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9918 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9919 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9920 personal mail group.
9922 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9923 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9924 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9925 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9926 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9927 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9929 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9930 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9932 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9935 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9936 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9937 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9938 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9939 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9941 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9944 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9945 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9946 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9947 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9948 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9949 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9950 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9954 @node The Server Buffer
9955 @section The Server Buffer
9957 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9958 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9959 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9960 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9961 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9962 backend represents a virtual server.
9964 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9965 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9966 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9967 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9969 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9970 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9971 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9972 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9973 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9974 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9975 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9977 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9978 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9981 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9982 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9983 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9984 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9985 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9986 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9987 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9990 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9991 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9994 @node Server Buffer Format
9995 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9996 @cindex server buffer format
9998 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9999 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10000 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10001 variable, with some simple extensions:
10006 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10009 The name of this server.
10012 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10015 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10018 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10019 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10020 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10021 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10031 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10034 @node Server Commands
10035 @subsection Server Commands
10036 @cindex server commands
10042 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10043 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10047 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10048 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10051 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10052 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10053 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10057 @findex gnus-server-exit
10058 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10062 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10063 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10067 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10068 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10072 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10073 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10077 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10078 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10082 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10083 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10084 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10089 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10090 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10091 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10092 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
10097 @node Example Methods
10098 @subsection Example Methods
10100 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10103 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10106 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10112 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10113 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10116 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10117 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10119 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10120 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10124 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10127 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10128 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10130 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10131 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10132 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10136 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10139 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10142 Here's the method for a public spool:
10146 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10147 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10153 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10154 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10155 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10156 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10157 should probably look something like this:
10161 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10162 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10163 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10164 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10165 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10168 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10169 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10170 server that would look something like this:
10174 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10175 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10176 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10177 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10178 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10179 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10182 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10183 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10184 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10185 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10188 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10189 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10191 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10192 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10194 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10195 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10196 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10198 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10200 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10201 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10202 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10203 will contain the following:
10213 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10214 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10215 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10218 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10219 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10220 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10223 @node Server Variables
10224 @subsection Server Variables
10226 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10227 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10228 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10229 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10230 won't change the "derived" variables.
10232 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10233 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10234 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10235 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10236 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10237 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10238 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10239 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10240 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10244 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10245 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10246 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10250 @node Servers and Methods
10251 @subsection Servers and Methods
10253 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10254 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10255 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10256 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10260 @node Unavailable Servers
10261 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10263 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10264 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10265 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10266 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10267 actually the case or not.
10269 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10270 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10271 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10272 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10273 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10274 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10275 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10276 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10278 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10279 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10281 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10282 with the following commands:
10288 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10289 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10290 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10294 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10295 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10296 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10300 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10301 Mark the current server as unreachable
10302 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10305 @kindex M-o (Server)
10306 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10307 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10308 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10311 @kindex M-c (Server)
10312 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10313 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10314 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10318 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10319 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10320 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10326 @section Getting News
10327 @cindex reading news
10328 @cindex news backends
10330 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10331 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10332 or it can read from a local spool.
10335 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10336 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10341 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10344 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10345 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10346 server as the, uhm, address.
10348 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10349 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10350 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10351 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10353 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10354 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10355 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10357 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10362 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10363 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10364 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10366 @cindex authentification
10367 @cindex nntp authentification
10368 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10369 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10370 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10371 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10372 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10373 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10374 present in this hook.
10376 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10377 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10378 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10379 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10380 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10381 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10382 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10383 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10384 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10385 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10386 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10387 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10391 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10394 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10395 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10396 @samp{default}, @samp{port} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a
10397 valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is almost the only way the
10398 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10403 Here's an example file:
10406 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10407 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10410 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10411 have to be first, for instance.
10413 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10414 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10415 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10416 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10417 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10418 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10419 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10421 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10422 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10428 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10429 previously mentioned.
10431 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10433 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10434 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10435 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10436 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10437 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10440 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10441 '(("innd" (ding))))
10444 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10446 The default value is
10449 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10450 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10453 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10454 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10456 @item nntp-maximum-request
10457 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10458 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10459 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10460 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10461 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10462 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10463 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10465 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10466 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10467 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10468 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10469 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10470 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10471 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10472 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10473 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10474 no timeouts are done.
10476 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10477 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10478 @c @cindex PPP connections
10479 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10480 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10481 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10482 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10483 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10484 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10485 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10486 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10487 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10488 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10490 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10491 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10492 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10493 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10494 @c described above.
10496 @item nntp-server-hook
10497 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10498 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10501 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10502 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10503 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10504 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10505 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10506 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10507 functions are supplied:
10510 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10511 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10514 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10515 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10516 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10519 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10523 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10524 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10525 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10526 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10528 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10529 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10530 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10532 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10533 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10534 User name on the remote system.
10538 @item nntp-open-telnet
10539 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10540 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10542 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10545 @item nntp-telnet-command
10546 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10547 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10549 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10550 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10551 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10553 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10554 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10555 User name for log in on the remote system.
10557 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10558 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10559 Password to use when logging in.
10561 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10562 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10563 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10566 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10567 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10568 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10569 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10571 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10572 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10573 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10574 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10575 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10579 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10580 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10581 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10582 you must have SSLay installed
10583 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10584 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10585 define a server as follows:
10588 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10590 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10592 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10593 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10594 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10595 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10600 @item nntp-end-of-line
10601 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10602 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10603 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10604 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10606 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10607 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10608 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10612 @vindex nntp-address
10613 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10615 @item nntp-port-number
10616 @vindex nntp-port-number
10617 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10620 @item nntp-buggy-select
10621 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10622 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10624 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10625 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10626 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10627 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10630 @item nntp-xover-commands
10631 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10634 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10635 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10639 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10640 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10641 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10642 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10643 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10644 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10645 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10646 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10647 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10648 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10649 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10651 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10652 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10653 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10655 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10656 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10657 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10658 server closes connection.
10660 @item nntp-record-commands
10661 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10662 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10663 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10664 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10665 that doesn't seem to work.
10671 @subsection News Spool
10675 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10676 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10677 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10680 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10681 anything else) as the address.
10683 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10684 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10685 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10686 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10690 @item nnspool-inews-program
10691 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10692 Program used to post an article.
10694 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10695 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10696 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10698 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10699 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10700 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10701 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10703 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10704 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10705 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10706 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10708 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10709 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10710 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10712 @item nnspool-active-file
10713 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10714 The path to the active file.
10716 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10717 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10718 The path to the group descriptions file.
10720 @item nnspool-history-file
10721 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10722 The path to the news history file.
10724 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10725 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10726 The path to the active date file.
10728 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10729 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10730 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10733 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10734 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10736 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10737 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10738 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10744 @section Getting Mail
10745 @cindex reading mail
10748 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10752 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10753 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10754 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10755 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10756 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10757 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10758 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10759 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10760 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10761 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10762 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10763 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10764 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10768 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10769 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10771 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10772 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10773 of a culture shock.
10775 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10776 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10778 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10779 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10780 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10781 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10783 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10785 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10786 deleted? How awful!
10788 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10789 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10790 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10791 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10794 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10795 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10796 they want to treat a message.
10798 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10799 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10800 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10801 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10802 archived somewhere else.
10804 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10805 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10806 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10807 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10808 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10810 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10811 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10812 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10814 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10815 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10818 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10819 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10820 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10821 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10822 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10824 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10825 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10826 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10827 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10828 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10829 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10833 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10834 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10836 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10837 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10838 and things will happen automatically.
10840 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10841 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10844 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10845 '((nnml "private")))
10848 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10849 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10850 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10851 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10852 like any other group.
10854 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10857 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10858 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10859 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10863 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10864 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10865 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10868 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10869 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10870 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10873 @node Splitting Mail
10874 @subsection Splitting Mail
10875 @cindex splitting mail
10876 @cindex mail splitting
10878 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10879 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10880 to be split into groups.
10883 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10884 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10885 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10886 ("mail.other" "")))
10889 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10890 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10891 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10892 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10893 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10894 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10895 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10898 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10901 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10902 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10903 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10904 mail belongs in that group.
10906 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10907 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10908 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10909 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10910 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10911 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10913 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10914 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10915 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10916 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10917 thinks should carry this mail message.
10919 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10920 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10921 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10922 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10924 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10925 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10926 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10927 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10928 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10930 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10933 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10934 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10935 links. If that's the case for you, set
10936 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10937 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10939 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10940 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10941 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10942 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
10943 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
10944 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
10947 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10948 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10949 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10950 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10951 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10952 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10953 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10954 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10955 month's rent money.
10959 @subsection Mail Sources
10961 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10962 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10966 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10967 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10968 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10972 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10973 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10975 @cindex mail server
10978 @cindex mail source
10980 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10981 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10986 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10989 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10990 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10991 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10994 The following mail source types are available:
10998 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11004 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11005 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11008 An example file mail source:
11011 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11014 Or using the default path:
11020 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11021 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11022 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11025 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11029 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11032 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11036 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11039 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11041 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11044 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11048 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11049 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11050 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil force Gnus to
11051 scan the mail source only once.
11057 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11061 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11065 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11066 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11067 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11068 predicate are considered.
11072 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11076 An example directory mail source:
11079 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11084 Get mail from a POP server.
11090 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11091 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11094 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11095 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11096 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11097 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}.
11100 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11104 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11108 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
11109 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11112 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11115 The valid format specifier characters are:
11119 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11120 included in this string.
11123 The name of the server.
11126 The port number of the server.
11129 The user name to use.
11132 The password to use.
11135 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11136 corresponding keywords.
11139 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11140 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11143 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11144 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11147 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11148 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11151 @item :authentication
11152 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11153 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11158 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11159 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11161 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11162 default user name, and default fetcher:
11168 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11171 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11172 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11175 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11178 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11182 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11183 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11184 contains exactly one mail.
11190 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11191 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11194 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11195 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11197 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11198 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11199 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11202 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11203 from locking problems).
11207 Two example maildir mail sources:
11210 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11214 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11218 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11219 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11220 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11221 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11227 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11228 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11231 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11232 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11235 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11239 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11243 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11244 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11245 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11247 @item :authentication
11248 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11249 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11250 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11254 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11255 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11258 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11259 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11260 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11261 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11262 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11263 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11266 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11267 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11268 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11269 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11272 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11273 after finishing the fetch.
11277 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11280 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11284 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11285 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11287 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11290 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11291 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11293 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11299 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11300 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11303 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11307 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11311 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11312 folder after finishing the fetch.
11316 An example webmail source:
11319 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11324 @item Common Keywords
11325 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11331 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11332 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11336 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11341 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11342 useful when you use local mail and news.
11347 @subsubheading Function Interface
11349 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11350 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11351 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11352 consider the following mail-source setting:
11355 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11356 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11359 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11360 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11361 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11362 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11363 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11365 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11368 @node Mail Source Customization
11369 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11371 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11372 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11376 @item mail-source-crash-box
11377 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11378 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11379 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11381 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11382 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11383 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11385 @item mail-source-directory
11386 @vindex mail-source-directory
11387 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11388 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11389 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11392 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11393 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11394 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11399 @node Fetching Mail
11400 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11402 @vindex mail-sources
11403 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11404 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11405 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11406 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11408 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11409 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11412 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11413 mail server, you'd say something like:
11418 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11419 :password "secret")))
11422 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11426 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11427 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11430 :password "secret")))
11434 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11435 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11436 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11437 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11438 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11439 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11443 @node Mail Backend Variables
11444 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11446 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11450 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11451 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11452 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11453 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11455 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11456 @item nnmail-split-hook
11457 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11458 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11459 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11460 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11461 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11462 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11463 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11464 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11465 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11468 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11469 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11470 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11471 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11472 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11473 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11474 starting to handle the new mail) and
11475 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11476 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11477 default file modes the new mail files get:
11480 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11481 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11483 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11484 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11487 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11488 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11489 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11490 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11491 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11492 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11493 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11495 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11496 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11497 @findex delete-file
11498 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11500 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11501 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11502 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11503 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11504 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11509 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11510 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11511 @cindex mail splitting
11512 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11514 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11515 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11516 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11517 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11518 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11519 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11521 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11524 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11525 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11526 ;; from real errors.
11527 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11529 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11530 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11531 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11532 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11533 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11534 ;; Other mailing lists...
11535 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11536 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11537 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11538 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11539 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11540 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11541 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11542 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11544 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11545 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11549 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11550 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11551 the five possible split syntaxes:
11556 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11557 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11561 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11562 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11563 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11564 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11565 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11566 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11567 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11568 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11571 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11572 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11573 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11574 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11577 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11578 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11581 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11582 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11585 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11586 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11587 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11588 function should return a @var{split}.
11590 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11591 body of the messages:
11594 (defun split-on-body ()
11596 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11597 (goto-char (point-min))
11598 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11603 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11604 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11605 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11609 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11613 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11614 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11615 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11616 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11617 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11619 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11620 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11621 are expanded as specified by the variable
11622 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11623 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11626 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11627 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11628 when all this splitting is performed.
11630 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11631 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11632 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11635 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11638 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11639 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11641 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11642 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11643 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11644 groupings 1 through 9.
11647 @node Group Mail Splitting
11648 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11649 @cindex mail splitting
11650 @cindex group mail splitting
11652 @findex gnus-group-split
11653 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11654 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11655 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11656 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11657 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11658 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11659 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11660 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11662 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11663 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11664 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11665 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11667 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11668 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11669 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11670 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11671 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11672 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11673 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11675 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11676 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11677 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11678 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11679 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11680 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11681 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11683 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11684 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11685 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11686 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11687 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11688 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11689 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11690 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11691 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11693 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11698 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11699 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11701 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11702 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11703 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11704 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11706 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11709 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11710 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11711 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11714 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11715 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11716 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11720 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11721 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11722 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11726 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11729 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11730 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11731 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11732 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11733 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11734 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11735 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11736 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11737 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11739 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11740 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11741 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11742 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11743 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11744 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11745 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11746 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11747 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11749 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11750 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11751 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11752 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11753 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11754 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11757 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11760 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11761 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11762 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11763 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11764 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11767 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11768 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11769 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11770 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11772 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11773 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11775 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11776 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11777 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11780 Doing so can be quite easy.
11782 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11783 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11784 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11785 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11786 your @code{nnml} groups.
11792 Go to the group buffer.
11795 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11796 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11799 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11802 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11803 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11806 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11807 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11810 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11811 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11812 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11813 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11814 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11816 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11817 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11818 using the new mail backend.
11821 @node Expiring Mail
11822 @subsection Expiring Mail
11823 @cindex article expiry
11825 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11826 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11827 different approach to mail reading.
11829 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11830 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11831 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11832 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11833 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11834 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11837 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11838 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11839 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11840 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11841 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11842 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11843 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11844 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11846 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11847 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11848 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11849 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11850 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11851 column in the summary buffer.
11853 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11854 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11855 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11856 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11859 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11861 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11862 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11863 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11866 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11867 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11868 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11869 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11870 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11872 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11873 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11876 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11877 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11880 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11881 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11883 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11884 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11885 don't really mix very well.
11887 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11888 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11889 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11890 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11893 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11894 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11895 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11896 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11899 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11901 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11903 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11905 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11907 ((string= group "important")
11913 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11914 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11916 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11917 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11918 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11921 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11922 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11924 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
11925 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
11926 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
11927 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
11928 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
11929 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
11930 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
11931 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
11932 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
11933 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
11934 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
11935 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
11938 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
11940 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
11944 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11945 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11946 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11947 easier for procmail users.
11949 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11950 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11951 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11952 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11953 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11954 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11955 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11956 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11957 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11958 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11959 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11960 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11961 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11964 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11966 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11967 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11968 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11969 auto-expire turned on.
11973 @subsection Washing Mail
11974 @cindex mail washing
11975 @cindex list server brain damage
11976 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11978 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11979 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
11980 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11981 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11982 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11983 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11985 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11986 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11987 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11990 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11991 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11992 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11993 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11996 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11997 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11998 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11999 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12000 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12003 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12004 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12005 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12006 Emacs running on MS machines.
12010 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12011 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12012 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12013 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12016 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12017 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12018 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12019 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12021 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12022 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12023 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12024 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12025 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12026 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12027 also be a list of regexp.
12029 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12030 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12033 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12034 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12037 This can also be done non-destructively with
12038 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12040 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12041 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12042 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12044 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12045 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12047 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12048 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12049 @code{References} headers.
12053 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12054 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12055 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12059 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12060 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12061 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12068 @subsection Duplicates
12070 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12071 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12072 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12073 @cindex duplicate mails
12074 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12075 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12076 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12077 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12078 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12079 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12080 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12081 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12082 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12083 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12084 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12085 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12086 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12088 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12089 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12090 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12091 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12093 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12096 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12097 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12101 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12102 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12103 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12104 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12105 (any mail "mail.misc")
12112 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12113 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12118 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12119 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12120 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12121 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12122 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12125 @node Not Reading Mail
12126 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12128 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12129 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12130 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12132 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12133 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12134 mail, which should help.
12136 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12137 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12138 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12139 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12140 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12141 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12142 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12143 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12144 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12145 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12146 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12148 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12149 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12153 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12154 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12156 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12157 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12158 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12160 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12161 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12162 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12163 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12166 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12167 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12168 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12169 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12170 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12171 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12175 @node Unix Mail Box
12176 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12178 @cindex unix mail box
12180 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12181 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12182 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12183 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12184 which group it belongs in.
12186 Virtual server settings:
12189 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12190 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12191 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12193 @item nnmbox-active-file
12194 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12195 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12197 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12198 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12199 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12205 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12209 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12210 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12211 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12212 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12213 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12215 Virtual server settings:
12218 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12219 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12220 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12222 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12223 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12224 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12226 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12227 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12228 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12233 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12235 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12237 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12238 format. It should be used with some caution.
12240 @vindex nnml-directory
12241 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12242 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12243 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12244 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12246 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12249 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12250 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12251 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12252 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12253 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12254 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12255 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12256 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12258 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12259 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12260 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12261 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12263 Virtual server settings:
12266 @item nnml-directory
12267 @vindex nnml-directory
12268 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12270 @item nnml-active-file
12271 @vindex nnml-active-file
12272 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12274 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12275 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12276 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12279 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12280 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12281 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12283 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12284 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12285 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12287 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12288 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12289 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12291 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12292 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12293 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12297 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12298 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12299 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12300 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12301 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12302 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12303 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12308 @subsubsection MH Spool
12310 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12312 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12313 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12314 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12315 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12317 Virtual server settings:
12320 @item nnmh-directory
12321 @vindex nnmh-directory
12322 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12324 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12325 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12326 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12329 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12330 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12331 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12332 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12333 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12334 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12335 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12340 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12342 @cindex mbox folders
12343 @cindex mail folders
12345 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12346 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12347 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12350 Virtual server settings:
12353 @item nnfolder-directory
12354 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12355 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12357 @item nnfolder-active-file
12358 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12359 The name of the active file.
12361 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12362 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12363 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12365 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12366 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12367 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12369 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12370 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12371 @cindex backup files
12372 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12373 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12374 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12375 your @file{.emacs} file:
12378 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12379 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12381 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12384 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12385 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12386 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12387 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12388 extract some information from it before removing it.
12393 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12394 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12395 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12396 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12397 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12398 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12401 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12402 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12404 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12405 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12406 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12407 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12408 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12410 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12411 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12412 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12413 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12414 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12415 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12416 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12417 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12420 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12421 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12422 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12423 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12428 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12429 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12430 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12431 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12432 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12433 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12434 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12435 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12436 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12437 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12438 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12439 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12440 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12445 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12446 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12447 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12448 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12449 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12450 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12451 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12452 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12453 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12454 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12455 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12456 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12457 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12458 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12460 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12461 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12466 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12467 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12468 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12469 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12470 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12471 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12472 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12473 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12474 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12475 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12476 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12477 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12478 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12479 provided by the active file and overviews.
12481 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12482 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12483 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12484 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12485 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12488 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12489 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12494 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12495 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12496 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12497 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12498 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12499 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12500 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12504 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12505 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12506 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12507 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12508 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12509 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12510 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12511 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12512 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12514 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12515 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12516 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12517 friendly mail backend all over.
12522 @node Browsing the Web
12523 @section Browsing the Web
12525 @cindex browsing the web
12529 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12530 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12531 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12532 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12533 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12534 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12535 even know what a news group is.
12537 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12538 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12539 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12540 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12541 you mad in the end.
12543 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12546 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12547 interfaces to these sources.
12550 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12551 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12552 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12553 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12554 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12557 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12559 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12560 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12561 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12562 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12563 though, you should be ok.
12565 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12566 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12567 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12568 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12569 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12573 @subsection Web Searches
12577 @cindex InReference
12578 @cindex Usenet searches
12579 @cindex searching the Usenet
12581 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12582 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12583 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12584 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12585 searches without having to use a browser.
12587 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12588 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12589 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12590 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12591 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12593 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12594 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12595 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12596 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12597 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12598 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12599 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12600 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12601 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12602 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12605 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12606 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12607 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12608 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12609 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12610 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12612 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12613 to use @code{nnweb}.
12615 Virtual server variables:
12620 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12621 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12625 @vindex nnweb-search
12626 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12628 @item nnweb-max-hits
12629 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12630 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12633 @item nnweb-type-definition
12634 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12635 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12636 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12641 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12645 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12648 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12651 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12655 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12662 @subsection Slashdot
12666 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12667 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12668 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12670 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12671 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12674 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12675 '((nnslashdot "")))
12678 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12679 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12680 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12681 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12682 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12685 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12686 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12688 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12689 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12690 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12691 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12692 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12693 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12696 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12699 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12700 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12701 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12702 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12703 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12704 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12705 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12707 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12708 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12709 The login name to use when posting.
12711 @item nnslashdot-password
12712 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12713 The password to use when posting.
12715 @item nnslashdot-directory
12716 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12717 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12718 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12720 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12721 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12722 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12723 news articles and comments. The default is
12724 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12726 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12727 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12728 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12730 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12732 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12733 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12734 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12736 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12738 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12739 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12740 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12742 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12743 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12744 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12745 updated. The default is 0.
12752 @subsection Ultimate
12754 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12756 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12757 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12758 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12759 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12761 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12762 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12763 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12764 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12765 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12766 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12767 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12769 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12772 @item nnultimate-directory
12773 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12774 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12775 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12780 @subsection Web Archive
12782 @cindex Web Archive
12784 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12785 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12786 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12787 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12790 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12791 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12792 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12793 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12794 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12795 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12796 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12798 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12801 @item nnwarchive-directory
12802 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12803 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12804 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12806 @item nnwarchive-login
12807 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12808 The account name on the web server.
12810 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12811 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12812 The password for your account on the web server.
12816 @node Customizing w3
12817 @subsection Customizing w3
12823 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12824 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12825 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12827 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12828 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12829 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12832 (eval-after-load "w3"
12834 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12835 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12836 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12837 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12839 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12842 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12843 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12847 @node Other Sources
12848 @section Other Sources
12850 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12851 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12855 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12856 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12857 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12858 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12859 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12860 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12864 @node Directory Groups
12865 @subsection Directory Groups
12867 @cindex directory groups
12869 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12870 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12873 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12874 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12875 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12876 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12878 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12879 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12880 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12881 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12882 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12884 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12886 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12887 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12888 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12889 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12892 @node Anything Groups
12893 @subsection Anything Groups
12896 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12897 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12898 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12901 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12902 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12903 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12904 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12905 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12906 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12907 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12908 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12909 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12910 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12913 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12914 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12915 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12916 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12918 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12919 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12920 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12921 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12923 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12924 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12925 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12926 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12927 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12928 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12929 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12930 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12935 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12936 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12937 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12938 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12940 @item nneething-exclude-files
12941 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12942 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12943 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12945 @item nneething-include-files
12946 @vindex nneething-include-files
12947 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12948 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12950 @item nneething-map-file
12951 @vindex nneething-map-file
12952 Name of the map files.
12956 @node Document Groups
12957 @subsection Document Groups
12959 @cindex documentation group
12962 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12963 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12970 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12975 The standard Unix mbox file.
12977 @cindex MMDF mail box
12979 The MMDF mail box format.
12982 Several news articles appended into a file.
12985 @cindex rnews batch files
12986 The rnews batch transport format.
12987 @cindex forwarded messages
12990 Forwarded articles.
12993 Netscape mail boxes.
12996 MIME multipart messages.
12998 @item standard-digest
12999 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13002 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13005 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13006 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13007 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13010 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13011 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13012 group. And that's it.
13014 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13015 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13016 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13017 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13018 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13019 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13020 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13021 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13022 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13023 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13025 Virtual server variables:
13028 @item nndoc-article-type
13029 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13030 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13031 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13032 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13033 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13035 @item nndoc-post-type
13036 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13037 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13038 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13043 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13047 @node Document Server Internals
13048 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13050 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13051 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13052 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13053 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13055 First, here's an example document type definition:
13059 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13060 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13063 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13064 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13065 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13066 types can be defined with very few settings:
13069 @item first-article
13070 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13071 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13074 @item article-begin
13075 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13076 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13078 @item head-begin-function
13079 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13082 @item nndoc-head-begin
13083 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13086 @item nndoc-head-end
13087 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13088 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13090 @item body-begin-function
13091 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13095 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13098 @item body-end-function
13099 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13103 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13106 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13107 regexp will be totally ignored.
13111 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13112 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13113 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13114 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13115 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13118 @item prepare-body-function
13119 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13120 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13121 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13123 @item article-transform-function
13124 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13125 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13126 body of the article.
13128 @item generate-head-function
13129 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13130 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13131 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13132 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13136 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13141 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13142 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13143 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13144 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13145 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13146 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13147 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13148 (subtype digest guess))
13151 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13152 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13153 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13154 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13155 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13157 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13158 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13159 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13160 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13161 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
13162 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13163 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13164 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13165 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13166 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13174 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13175 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13176 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13178 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13179 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13180 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13183 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13184 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13185 that interested in doing things properly.
13187 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13188 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13191 First some terminology:
13196 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13197 get news and/or mail from.
13200 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13201 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13204 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13208 @item message packets
13209 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13210 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13211 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13213 @item response packets
13214 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13215 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13216 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13226 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13227 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13228 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13229 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13232 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13235 You put the packet in your home directory.
13238 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13239 the native or secondary server.
13242 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13243 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13246 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13250 You transfer this packet to the server.
13253 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13256 You then repeat until you die.
13260 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13261 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13264 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13265 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13266 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13270 @node SOUP Commands
13271 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13273 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13277 @kindex G s b (Group)
13278 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13279 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13280 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13281 process/prefix convention.
13284 @kindex G s w (Group)
13285 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13286 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13289 @kindex G s s (Group)
13290 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13291 Send all replies from the replies packet
13292 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13295 @kindex G s p (Group)
13296 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13297 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13300 @kindex G s r (Group)
13301 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13302 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13305 @kindex O s (Summary)
13306 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13307 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13308 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13309 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13314 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13319 @item gnus-soup-directory
13320 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13321 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13322 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13324 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13325 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13326 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13327 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13329 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13330 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13331 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13332 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13334 @item gnus-soup-packer
13335 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13336 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13337 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13339 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13340 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13341 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13342 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13344 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13345 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13346 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13348 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13349 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13350 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13351 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13357 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13360 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13361 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13362 you can read them at leisure.
13364 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13368 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13369 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13370 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13371 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13373 @item nnsoup-directory
13374 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13375 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13376 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13378 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13379 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13380 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13381 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13383 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13384 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13385 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13386 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13387 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13389 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13390 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13391 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13392 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13394 @item nnsoup-active-file
13395 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13396 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13397 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13398 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13399 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13401 @item nnsoup-packer
13402 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13403 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13404 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13406 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13407 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13408 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13409 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13411 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13412 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13413 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13416 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13417 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13418 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13421 @item nnsoup-always-save
13422 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13423 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13429 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13431 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13432 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13433 more for that to happen.
13435 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13436 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13437 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13440 In specific, this is what it does:
13443 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13444 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13447 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13448 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13449 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13452 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13453 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13454 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13457 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13458 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13459 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13461 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13467 @item nngateway-address
13468 @vindex nngateway-address
13469 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13471 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13472 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13473 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13474 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13475 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13476 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13477 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13480 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13481 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13482 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13485 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13488 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13491 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13494 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13496 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13499 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13500 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13501 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13503 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13505 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13506 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13507 @code{nngateway-address}.
13512 (setq gnus-post-method
13513 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13514 (nngateway-header-transformation
13515 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13523 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13526 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13532 @subsection @sc{imap}
13536 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13537 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13538 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13539 network address of the server.
13541 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13546 @item nnimap-address
13547 @vindex nnimap-address
13549 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13550 server name if not specified.
13552 @item nnimap-server-port
13553 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13554 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13556 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13557 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13558 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13559 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13560 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13561 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13562 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13564 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13565 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13566 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13572 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13575 @item nnimap-stream
13576 @vindex nnimap-stream
13577 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13578 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13579 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13580 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13584 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13585 @samp{imtest} program.
13587 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13589 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13590 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13593 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13594 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13596 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start IMAP connection.
13598 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13601 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
13602 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13603 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
13604 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
13607 @vindex imap-ssl-program
13608 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13609 @file{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13610 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
13611 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
13612 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
13613 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
13616 @vindex imap-shell-program
13617 @vindex imap-shell-host
13618 For IMAP connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
13619 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
13621 @item nnimap-authenticator
13622 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13624 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13625 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13629 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
13630 external program @code{imtest}.
13632 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
13635 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
13636 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
13638 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13640 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13642 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13645 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13647 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13648 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13649 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13650 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13651 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13652 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13655 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13656 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13657 running in circles yet?
13659 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13660 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13663 The possible options are:
13668 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13671 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13672 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13673 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13674 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13676 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13679 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
13680 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
13682 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format
13683 is (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See
13684 `nntp-authinfo-file' for exact syntax.
13691 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13692 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13693 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13698 @node Splitting in IMAP
13699 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13700 @cindex splitting imap mail
13702 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13703 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13704 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13705 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13706 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13710 Here are the variables of interest:
13714 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13715 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13717 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13719 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13720 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13722 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13724 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13725 @cindex splitting, inbox
13727 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13729 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13730 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13734 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13737 No nnmail equivalent.
13739 @item nnimap-split-rule
13740 @cindex Splitting, rules
13741 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13743 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13746 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13747 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13748 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13749 Neither did I, we need examples.
13752 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13753 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13754 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13755 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13758 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13759 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13760 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13762 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13763 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13767 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13770 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13771 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13772 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13773 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13775 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13776 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13777 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13778 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13779 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13780 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13782 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13783 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13784 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13786 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13787 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13788 thinks the article should be splitted to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13790 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13792 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
13793 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
13794 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
13797 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13798 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
13799 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
13800 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
13801 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
13802 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
13805 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
13806 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
13807 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
13808 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
13809 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
13810 group/function elements.
13812 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13814 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13816 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13818 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13819 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13821 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13822 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13823 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13826 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13827 @cindex splitting, fancy
13828 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13829 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13831 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13832 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13833 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13835 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13836 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13837 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13838 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13843 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13844 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13847 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13851 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13852 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13853 @cindex editing imap acls
13854 @cindex Access Control Lists
13855 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13857 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13859 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13860 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13861 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13864 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13865 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13866 editing window with detailed instructions.
13868 Some possible uses:
13872 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13873 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13874 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13876 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13877 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13878 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13882 @node Expunging mailboxes
13883 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13887 @cindex Manual expunging
13889 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13891 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13892 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13893 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13895 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13900 @node Combined Groups
13901 @section Combined Groups
13903 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13907 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13908 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13912 @node Virtual Groups
13913 @subsection Virtual Groups
13915 @cindex virtual groups
13916 @cindex merging groups
13918 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13921 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13922 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13923 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13925 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13926 regexp to match component groups.
13928 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13929 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13930 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13931 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13932 the virtual group.)
13934 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13935 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13938 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13941 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13942 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13944 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13945 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13946 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13947 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13950 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13953 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13954 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13955 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13957 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13958 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13959 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13960 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13961 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13963 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13964 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13965 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13967 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13968 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13969 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13970 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13971 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13972 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13973 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13974 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13975 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13976 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13977 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13979 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13980 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13981 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13982 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13983 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13984 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13985 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13987 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13988 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13992 @node Kibozed Groups
13993 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13997 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13998 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13999 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14000 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14002 @kindex G k (Group)
14003 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14006 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14007 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14008 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14009 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14011 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14012 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14013 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14015 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14016 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14017 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14018 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14019 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14020 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14021 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14022 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14024 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14025 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14026 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14027 Stranger things have happened.
14029 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14030 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14032 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14033 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14034 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14035 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14036 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14037 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14039 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14040 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14043 @node Gnus Unplugged
14044 @section Gnus Unplugged
14049 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14051 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14052 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14053 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14054 read news. Believe it or not.
14056 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14057 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14058 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14059 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14060 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14062 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14063 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14064 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14065 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14066 reading news on a machine.
14068 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14072 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14073 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14077 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14078 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14085 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14087 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14090 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14091 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14092 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14093 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14094 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14095 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14096 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14097 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14098 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14103 @subsection Agent Basics
14105 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14107 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14108 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14109 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14110 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14112 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14113 connected to the net continuously.
14115 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14116 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14118 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14123 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14124 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14125 already fetched while in this mode.
14128 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14129 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14130 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14134 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14135 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
14136 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14137 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14140 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14141 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14142 then you read the news offline.
14145 And then you go to step 2.
14148 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14154 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14155 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14156 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14157 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14158 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14159 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14162 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14169 @node Agent Categories
14170 @subsection Agent Categories
14172 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14173 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14174 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14175 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14176 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14177 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14178 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14180 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14181 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14182 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14183 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14184 managing categories.
14187 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14188 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14189 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14193 @node Category Syntax
14194 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14196 A category consists of two things.
14200 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14201 are eligible for downloading; and
14204 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14205 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14206 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14209 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14210 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14211 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14212 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14214 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14215 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14216 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
14218 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14219 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14220 operators sprinkled in between.
14222 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14224 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14225 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14231 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14232 short (for some value of ``short'').
14234 Here's a more complex predicate:
14243 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14244 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14247 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14248 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14249 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14251 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14252 you want to do, you can write your own.
14256 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14257 lines; default 100.
14260 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14261 lines; default 200.
14264 True iff the article has a download score less than
14265 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14268 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14269 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14272 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14273 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14274 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14283 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14284 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14285 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14288 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14289 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14290 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14291 something along the lines of the following:
14294 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14295 "Say whether an article is old."
14296 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14297 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14300 with the predicate then defined as:
14303 (not my-article-old-p)
14306 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14307 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14308 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14309 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14312 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
14313 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14314 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14317 and simply specify your predicate as:
14323 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14324 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14325 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14326 just don't give a damm.
14328 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14329 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14330 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14331 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14332 parameters like so:
14335 (agent-predicate . short)
14338 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14339 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14340 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14342 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14345 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14348 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14349 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14350 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14353 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14354 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14355 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14356 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14357 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14358 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14360 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14361 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14362 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14363 if it's to be specific to that group.
14365 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14372 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14373 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14379 Category specification
14383 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14389 Group Parameter specification
14392 (agent-score ("from"
14393 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14398 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14404 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14411 Category specification
14414 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14420 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14424 Group Parameter specification
14427 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14430 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14435 Use @code{normal} score files
14437 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14438 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14439 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14440 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14442 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14443 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14444 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14445 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14449 Category Specification
14456 Group Parameter specification
14459 (agent-score . file)
14464 @node The Category Buffer
14465 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14467 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14468 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14469 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14471 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14475 @kindex q (Category)
14476 @findex gnus-category-exit
14477 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14480 @kindex k (Category)
14481 @findex gnus-category-kill
14482 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14485 @kindex c (Category)
14486 @findex gnus-category-copy
14487 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14490 @kindex a (Category)
14491 @findex gnus-category-add
14492 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14495 @kindex p (Category)
14496 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14497 Edit the predicate of the current category
14498 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14501 @kindex g (Category)
14502 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14503 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14504 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14507 @kindex s (Category)
14508 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14509 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14510 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14513 @kindex l (Category)
14514 @findex gnus-category-list
14515 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14519 @node Category Variables
14520 @subsubsection Category Variables
14523 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14524 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14525 Hook run in category buffers.
14527 @item gnus-category-line-format
14528 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14529 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14530 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14534 The name of the category.
14537 The number of groups in the category.
14540 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14541 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14542 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14544 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14545 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14546 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14548 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14549 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14550 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14552 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14553 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14554 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14557 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14558 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14559 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14565 @node Agent Commands
14566 @subsection Agent Commands
14568 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14569 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14570 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14574 * Group Agent Commands::
14575 * Summary Agent Commands::
14576 * Server Agent Commands::
14579 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14580 following incantation:
14582 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14584 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14589 @node Group Agent Commands
14590 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14594 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14595 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14596 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14597 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14600 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14601 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
14602 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
14605 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
14606 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
14607 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
14608 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
14611 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
14612 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
14613 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
14614 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
14617 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
14618 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
14619 Add the current group to an Agent category
14620 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
14621 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14624 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
14625 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
14626 Remove the current group from its category, if any
14627 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
14628 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14633 @node Summary Agent Commands
14634 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
14638 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
14639 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
14640 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
14643 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
14644 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
14645 Remove the downloading mark from the article
14646 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
14649 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
14650 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
14651 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
14654 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
14655 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
14656 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
14661 @node Server Agent Commands
14662 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
14666 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
14667 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
14668 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
14669 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
14672 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
14673 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
14674 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
14675 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
14681 @subsection Agent Expiry
14683 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
14684 @findex gnus-agent-expire
14685 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
14686 @cindex Agent expiry
14687 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
14690 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
14691 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
14692 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
14693 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
14694 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
14695 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
14697 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
14698 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
14699 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
14700 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
14701 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
14704 @node Outgoing Messages
14705 @subsection Outgoing Messages
14707 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
14708 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
14709 after posting, and edit them at will.
14711 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
14712 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
14713 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
14714 messages in the draft group.
14718 @node Agent Variables
14719 @subsection Agent Variables
14722 @item gnus-agent-directory
14723 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
14724 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
14725 @file{~/News/agent/}.
14727 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
14728 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
14729 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
14730 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
14731 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
14734 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14735 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14736 Hook run when connecting to the network.
14738 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14739 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14740 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
14745 @node Example Setup
14746 @subsection Example Setup
14748 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
14749 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
14750 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
14753 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
14754 ;;; from your ISP's server.
14755 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
14757 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
14758 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
14759 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
14761 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
14762 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14764 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
14768 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
14769 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
14772 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
14773 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
14774 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
14775 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
14776 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
14779 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
14780 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
14781 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
14782 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
14783 back all the killed groups.)
14785 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
14786 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
14787 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
14790 @node Batching Agents
14791 @subsection Batching Agents
14793 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
14794 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
14795 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
14799 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
14803 @node Agent Caveats
14804 @subsection Agent Caveats
14806 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14807 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14811 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14816 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14817 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14823 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14824 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14831 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14832 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14833 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14836 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14837 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14838 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14839 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14840 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14842 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14843 before generating the summary buffer.
14845 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14846 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14847 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14849 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14850 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14851 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14852 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14855 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14856 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14857 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14858 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14859 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14860 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14861 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14862 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14863 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14864 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14865 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14866 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14867 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14868 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14869 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14870 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14874 @node Summary Score Commands
14875 @section Summary Score Commands
14876 @cindex score commands
14878 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14879 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14880 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14881 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14882 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14884 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14885 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14886 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14887 score file the current one.
14889 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14894 @kindex V s (Summary)
14895 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14896 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14899 @kindex V S (Summary)
14900 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14901 Display the score of the current article
14902 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14905 @kindex V t (Summary)
14906 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14907 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14908 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14911 @kindex V R (Summary)
14912 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14913 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14914 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14915 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14916 effect you're having.
14919 @kindex V c (Summary)
14920 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14921 Make a different score file the current
14922 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14925 @kindex V e (Summary)
14926 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14927 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14928 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14932 @kindex V f (Summary)
14933 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14934 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14935 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14938 @kindex V F (Summary)
14939 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14940 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14941 after editing score files.
14944 @kindex V C (Summary)
14945 @findex gnus-score-customize
14946 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14947 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14951 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14956 @kindex V m (Summary)
14957 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14958 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14959 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14962 @kindex V x (Summary)
14963 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14964 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14965 expunge all articles below this score
14966 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14969 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14970 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14973 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14974 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14978 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14979 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14981 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14982 keys are available:
14986 Score on the author name.
14989 Score on the subject line.
14992 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14995 Score on the @code{References} line.
15001 Score on the number of lines.
15004 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15007 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15008 the followups to this author.
15022 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15023 what headers you are scoring on.
15035 Substring matching.
15038 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15067 Greater than number.
15072 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15073 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15074 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15078 Temporary score entry.
15081 Permanent score entry.
15084 Immediately scoring.
15089 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15090 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15091 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15092 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15094 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15095 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15096 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15097 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15098 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15100 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15101 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15102 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15103 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15104 current score file.
15106 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15107 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15108 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15111 @node Group Score Commands
15112 @section Group Score Commands
15113 @cindex group score commands
15115 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15120 @kindex W f (Group)
15121 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15122 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15123 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15124 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15128 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15130 @findex gnus-batch-score
15131 @cindex batch scoring
15133 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15137 @node Score Variables
15138 @section Score Variables
15139 @cindex score variables
15143 @item gnus-use-scoring
15144 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15145 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15146 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15148 @item gnus-kill-killed
15149 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15150 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15151 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15152 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15153 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15154 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15155 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15157 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15158 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15159 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15160 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15161 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15163 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15164 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15165 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15166 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15168 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15169 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15170 @cindex score cache
15171 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15172 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15173 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
15174 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15175 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15176 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15179 @item gnus-save-score
15180 @vindex gnus-save-score
15181 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15182 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15183 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15185 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15186 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15187 across group visits.
15189 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15190 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15191 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15192 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15193 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15194 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15195 manually entered data.
15197 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15198 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15199 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15201 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15202 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15203 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15204 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15205 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15206 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15208 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15209 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15210 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15211 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15213 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15214 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15215 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15216 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15218 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15219 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15220 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15221 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15223 Predefined functions available are:
15226 @item gnus-score-find-single
15227 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15228 Only apply the group's own score file.
15230 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15231 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15232 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15233 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15234 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15235 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15236 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15237 then a regexp match is done.
15239 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15240 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15242 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15243 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15244 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15245 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15247 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15248 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15249 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15250 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15251 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
15254 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15255 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
15256 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
15257 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
15258 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
15259 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
15262 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15263 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15264 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15265 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15266 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15268 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15269 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15270 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15271 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15272 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15273 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15274 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15277 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15278 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15279 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15281 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15282 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15283 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15284 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15285 threading---according to the current value of
15286 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15287 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15288 simplified in this manner.
15293 @node Score File Format
15294 @section Score File Format
15295 @cindex score file format
15297 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15298 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15299 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15301 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15305 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15307 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15309 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15311 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15316 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15320 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15321 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15322 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15323 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15327 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15328 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15330 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15331 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15332 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15334 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15339 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15340 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15341 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15342 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15343 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15344 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15345 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15346 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15347 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15348 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15349 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15350 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15351 to articles that matches these score entries.
15353 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15354 score entry has one to four elements.
15358 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15359 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15363 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15364 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15365 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15366 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15367 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15368 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15371 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15372 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15373 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15374 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15375 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15378 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15379 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15380 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15381 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15384 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15385 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15386 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15387 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15388 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15389 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15390 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15391 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15392 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15393 instead, if you feel like.
15396 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15397 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15399 These predicates are true if
15402 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15405 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15406 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15413 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15414 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15415 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15416 it's not. I think.)
15418 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15419 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15420 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15421 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15424 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15425 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15426 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15427 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15428 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15429 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15430 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15434 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15435 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15436 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15437 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15438 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15439 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15440 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15441 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15444 @item Head, Body, All
15445 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15449 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15450 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15451 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15452 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15453 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15454 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15455 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15459 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15460 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15461 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15462 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15463 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15464 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15465 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15466 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15467 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15468 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15469 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15473 @cindex Score File Atoms
15475 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15476 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15479 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15480 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15482 @item mark-and-expunge
15483 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15484 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15487 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15488 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15489 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15490 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15491 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15494 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15495 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15498 @item exclude-files
15499 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15500 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15504 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15505 ignored when handling global score files.
15508 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15509 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15510 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15511 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15514 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15515 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15516 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15517 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15519 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15523 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15526 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15527 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15528 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15529 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15530 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15532 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15533 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15534 ordinary scoring rules.
15537 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
15538 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
15539 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
15540 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
15541 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
15542 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
15543 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15544 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
15545 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
15546 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
15547 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
15551 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
15552 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
15553 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
15554 file for a number of groups.
15557 @cindex local variables
15558 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
15559 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
15560 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
15561 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
15562 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
15566 @node Score File Editing
15567 @section Score File Editing
15569 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
15570 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
15571 with a mode for that.
15573 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
15574 additional commands:
15579 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
15580 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
15581 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
15582 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
15585 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
15586 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
15587 Insert the current date in numerical format
15588 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
15589 you were wondering.
15592 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
15593 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
15594 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
15595 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
15596 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
15601 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
15603 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
15604 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
15606 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
15607 e} to begin editing score files.
15610 @node Adaptive Scoring
15611 @section Adaptive Scoring
15612 @cindex adaptive scoring
15614 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
15615 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
15616 stupidity, to be precise.
15618 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
15619 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
15620 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
15621 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
15622 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15623 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
15624 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
15625 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
15626 variable to @code{(word line)}.
15628 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15629 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
15630 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
15631 might look something like this:
15634 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15635 '((gnus-unread-mark)
15636 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
15637 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
15638 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
15639 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
15640 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
15641 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
15642 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
15643 (gnus-ancient-mark)
15644 (gnus-low-score-mark)
15645 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
15648 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
15649 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
15650 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
15651 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
15652 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
15653 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
15656 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
15657 will be applied to each article.
15659 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
15660 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
15661 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
15662 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
15664 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
15665 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
15666 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
15667 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
15669 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
15670 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
15671 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
15672 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
15674 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
15675 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
15676 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
15677 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
15678 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
15679 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
15681 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
15682 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
15683 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
15684 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
15685 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
15686 aspirins afterwards.)
15688 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
15689 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
15690 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
15692 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
15693 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
15694 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
15696 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
15697 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
15698 let you use different rules in different groups.
15700 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
15701 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
15702 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
15705 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
15706 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
15707 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
15708 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
15709 the length of the match is less than
15710 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
15711 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
15714 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15715 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
15716 headers. If you adapt on words, the
15717 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
15718 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
15721 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15722 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
15723 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
15724 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
15725 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
15728 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
15729 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
15730 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
15731 score with 30 points.
15733 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
15734 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
15735 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
15736 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
15737 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
15739 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
15740 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
15741 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
15742 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
15744 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
15745 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
15746 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
15747 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
15749 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
15750 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
15751 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
15752 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
15753 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
15755 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
15756 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
15757 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
15759 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
15760 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
15761 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
15762 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
15765 @node Home Score File
15766 @section Home Score File
15768 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
15769 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
15770 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
15771 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
15773 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
15774 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
15775 could perhaps use the same home score file.
15777 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
15778 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
15783 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
15787 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
15788 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
15792 A list. The elements in this list can be:
15796 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
15797 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
15800 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
15801 the home score file.
15804 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15807 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15812 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15815 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15816 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15819 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15820 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15822 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15824 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15825 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15828 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15829 Other functions include
15832 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15833 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15834 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15835 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15839 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15840 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15841 their own home score files:
15844 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15845 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15846 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15847 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15848 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15851 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15852 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15853 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15854 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15855 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15857 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15858 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15859 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15860 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15861 precedence over this variable.
15864 @node Followups To Yourself
15865 @section Followups To Yourself
15867 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15868 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15869 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15870 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15871 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15872 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15876 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15877 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15878 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15881 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15882 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15883 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15887 @vindex message-sent-hook
15888 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15889 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15891 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15892 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15896 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15897 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15900 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15901 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15906 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15910 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15911 is system-dependent.
15915 @section Scoring Tips
15916 @cindex scoring tips
15922 @cindex scoring crossposts
15923 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15924 the @code{Xref} header.
15926 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15929 @item Multiple crossposts
15930 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15931 more than, say, 3 groups:
15933 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15936 @item Matching on the body
15937 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15938 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15939 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15940 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15941 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15942 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15943 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15946 @item Marking as read
15947 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15948 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15949 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15953 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15955 @item Negated character classes
15956 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15957 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15958 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15962 @node Reverse Scoring
15963 @section Reverse Scoring
15964 @cindex reverse scoring
15966 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15967 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15968 like this in your score file:
15972 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15977 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15978 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15981 @node Global Score Files
15982 @section Global Score Files
15983 @cindex global score files
15985 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15986 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15987 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15989 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15990 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15991 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15993 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15994 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15995 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15996 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15997 files are applicable to which group.
15999 Say you want to use the score file
16000 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16001 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
16004 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16005 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16006 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16009 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16010 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16011 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16012 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16013 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16015 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16016 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16018 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16019 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16020 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16021 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16022 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16023 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16025 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16031 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16033 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16035 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16037 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16038 lowered out of existence.
16040 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16041 articles completely.
16044 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16045 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16046 old articles for a long time.
16049 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16050 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16051 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16052 holding our breath yet?
16056 @section Kill Files
16059 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16060 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16061 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16063 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16064 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16065 files into score files.
16067 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16068 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16069 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16070 that isn't a very good idea.
16072 Normal kill files look like this:
16075 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16076 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16080 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16081 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16083 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16084 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16087 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16092 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16093 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16094 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16097 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16098 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16099 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16102 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16107 @kindex M-k (Group)
16108 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16109 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16112 @kindex M-K (Group)
16113 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16114 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16117 Kill file variables:
16120 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16121 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16122 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16123 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16124 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16125 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16126 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16128 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16129 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16130 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16131 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16134 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16135 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16136 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16137 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16138 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16139 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16140 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16141 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16142 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16144 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16145 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16146 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16151 @node Converting Kill Files
16152 @section Converting Kill Files
16154 @cindex converting kill files
16156 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16157 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16158 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16161 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16162 You can fetch it from
16163 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
16165 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16166 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16167 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16175 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16176 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16177 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16179 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16180 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16181 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16182 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16183 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16184 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16185 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16186 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16190 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16191 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16192 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16193 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16197 @node Using GroupLens
16198 @subsection Using GroupLens
16200 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16202 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16203 better bit in town at the moment.
16205 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16209 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16210 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16211 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16212 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16214 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16215 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16216 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16217 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16219 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16220 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16221 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16225 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16226 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16227 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16228 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16229 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16230 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16233 @node Rating Articles
16234 @subsection Rating Articles
16236 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16237 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16238 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16239 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16242 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16247 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16248 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16249 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16252 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16253 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16254 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16255 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16256 threads in rec.humor.
16260 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16261 the score of the article you're reading.
16266 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16267 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16268 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16271 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16272 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16273 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16277 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16278 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16281 @node Displaying Predictions
16282 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16284 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16285 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16286 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16287 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16288 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16290 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16291 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16292 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16293 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16294 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16295 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16296 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16297 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16298 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16299 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16300 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16301 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16302 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16304 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16305 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16306 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16307 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16309 The following are valid values for that variable.
16312 @item prediction-spot
16313 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16316 @item confidence-interval
16317 A numeric confidence interval.
16319 @item prediction-bar
16320 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16322 @item confidence-bar
16323 Numerical confidence.
16325 @item confidence-spot
16326 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16328 @item prediction-num
16329 Plain-old numeric value.
16331 @item confidence-plus-minus
16332 Prediction +/- confidence.
16337 @node GroupLens Variables
16338 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16342 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16343 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16344 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16345 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16348 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16349 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16352 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16353 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16355 @item grouplens-score-offset
16356 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16357 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16360 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16361 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16362 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16367 @node Advanced Scoring
16368 @section Advanced Scoring
16370 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16371 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16372 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16373 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16374 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16376 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16380 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16381 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16382 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16386 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16387 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16389 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16390 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16391 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16392 non-@code{nil} value.
16394 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16395 operator, and various match operators.
16402 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16403 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16404 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16409 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16410 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16411 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16416 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16417 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16421 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16422 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16423 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16424 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16425 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16426 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16427 the ancestry you want to go.
16429 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16430 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16431 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16432 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16433 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16436 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16437 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16439 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16440 when he's talking about Gnus:
16444 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16445 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16451 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16455 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16462 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16463 really don't want to read what he's written:
16467 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16468 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16472 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16473 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16474 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16481 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16482 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16483 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16484 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16488 The possibilities are endless.
16491 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16492 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16494 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16495 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16496 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16497 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16498 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16499 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16500 @samp{subject}) first.
16502 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16503 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16514 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16515 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16521 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16528 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16529 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
16534 @section Score Decays
16535 @cindex score decays
16538 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
16539 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
16540 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
16541 use them in any sensible way.
16543 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
16544 @findex gnus-decay-score
16545 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
16546 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
16547 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
16548 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
16549 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
16550 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
16551 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
16552 definition of that function:
16555 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
16557 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
16558 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
16561 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
16563 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
16565 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
16568 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
16569 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
16570 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
16571 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
16575 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
16578 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
16581 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
16585 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
16586 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
16587 the new score, which should be an integer.
16589 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
16590 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
16597 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
16598 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
16599 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
16600 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
16601 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
16602 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
16603 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
16604 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
16605 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
16606 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
16607 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
16608 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
16609 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
16610 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
16611 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
16612 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
16613 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
16614 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
16618 @node Process/Prefix
16619 @section Process/Prefix
16620 @cindex process/prefix convention
16622 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
16623 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
16625 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
16626 command to be performed on.
16630 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
16631 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
16632 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
16633 with the current one.
16635 @vindex transient-mark-mode
16636 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
16637 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
16639 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
16640 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
16643 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
16644 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
16646 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
16649 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
16650 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
16651 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
16652 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16654 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
16655 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
16656 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
16657 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
16658 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
16659 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
16660 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
16661 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
16663 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
16664 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
16665 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
16666 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
16667 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
16671 @section Interactive
16672 @cindex interaction
16676 @item gnus-novice-user
16677 @vindex gnus-novice-user
16678 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
16679 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
16680 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
16681 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
16684 @item gnus-expert-user
16685 @vindex gnus-expert-user
16686 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
16687 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
16688 matter how strange.
16690 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
16691 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
16692 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
16693 is @code{t} by default.
16695 @item gnus-interactive-exit
16696 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
16697 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16702 @node Symbolic Prefixes
16703 @section Symbolic Prefixes
16704 @cindex symbolic prefixes
16706 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
16707 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
16708 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
16709 rule of 900 to the current article.
16711 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
16712 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
16713 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
16714 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
16715 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
16716 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
16717 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
16719 @kindex M-i (Summary)
16720 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
16721 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
16722 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
16723 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
16724 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
16725 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
16726 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
16727 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
16729 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
16730 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
16731 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
16733 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
16737 @node Formatting Variables
16738 @section Formatting Variables
16739 @cindex formatting variables
16741 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
16742 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
16743 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
16744 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
16745 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
16748 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
16749 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
16750 lots of percentages everywhere.
16753 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
16754 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
16755 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
16756 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
16757 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
16760 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
16761 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
16762 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
16763 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
16764 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
16765 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
16766 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
16767 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
16769 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
16770 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
16772 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
16773 @findex gnus-update-format
16774 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
16775 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
16776 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
16777 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
16781 @node Formatting Basics
16782 @subsection Formatting Basics
16784 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
16785 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
16786 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
16788 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
16789 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
16790 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
16791 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
16792 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
16795 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
16796 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
16797 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
16798 less than 4 characters wide.
16801 @node Mode Line Formatting
16802 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
16804 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
16805 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
16806 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
16807 with the following two differences:
16812 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16815 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16816 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16817 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16818 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16819 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16820 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16821 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16826 @node Advanced Formatting
16827 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16829 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16830 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16831 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16832 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16834 These are the valid modifiers:
16839 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16843 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16848 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16851 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16856 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16859 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16862 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16865 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16869 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16870 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16871 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16872 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16873 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16874 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16875 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16877 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16878 last operation, padding.
16880 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
16881 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
16882 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
16883 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
16884 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
16885 the look of your lines.
16886 @xref{Compilation}.
16889 @node User-Defined Specs
16890 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16892 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16893 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16894 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16895 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16896 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16897 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16898 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16899 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16900 should protect against that.
16902 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16903 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16904 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16905 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16909 @node Formatting Fonts
16910 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16912 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16913 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16914 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16915 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16918 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16919 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16920 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16921 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16922 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16923 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16925 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16926 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16927 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16928 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16929 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16930 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16931 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16932 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16934 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16937 ;; Create three face types.
16938 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16939 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16941 ;; We want the article count to be in
16942 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16943 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16944 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16946 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16947 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16949 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16950 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16951 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16954 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16955 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16957 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16958 mode-line variables.
16961 @node Windows Configuration
16962 @section Windows Configuration
16963 @cindex windows configuration
16965 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16967 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16968 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16969 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16970 @code{t} by default.
16972 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16973 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16975 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16976 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16977 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16980 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16981 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16982 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16986 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16987 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16988 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16989 possible names is listed below.
16991 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16992 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16995 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16999 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17000 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17001 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17002 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17003 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17004 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17005 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17006 size spec per split.
17008 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17009 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17010 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17011 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17012 present) gets focus.
17014 Here's a more complicated example:
17017 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17018 (summary 0.25 point)
17019 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17023 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17024 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17025 occupy, not a percentage.
17027 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17028 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17029 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17030 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17031 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17034 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17037 (article (horizontal 1.0
17042 (summary 0.25 point)
17047 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17048 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17050 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17051 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17052 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17053 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17054 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17056 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17057 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17058 lines from the splits.
17060 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17064 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17065 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17066 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17067 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17068 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17069 size = number | frame-params
17070 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
17073 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17074 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17075 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17076 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17078 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17079 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17080 @cindex window height
17081 @cindex window width
17082 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17083 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17084 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17085 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17086 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17087 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17089 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17090 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17091 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17092 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17094 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17095 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17096 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17097 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17098 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17099 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17100 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17101 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17102 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17103 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17104 configuration list.
17107 (gnus-configure-frame
17111 (article 0.3 point))
17119 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17120 @code{frame} split:
17123 (gnus-configure-frame
17126 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17128 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17129 (user-position . t)
17130 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17135 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17136 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17137 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17138 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17139 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17140 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17141 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17142 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17144 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17145 be found in its default value.
17147 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17148 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17149 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17153 (message (horizontal 1.0
17154 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17156 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17161 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17162 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17163 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17166 (message (frame 1.0
17167 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17168 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17169 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17170 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17171 (name . "Message"))
17172 (message 1.0 point))))
17175 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17176 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17177 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17178 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17179 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17182 (gnus-add-configuration
17183 '(article (vertical 1.0
17185 (summary .25 point)
17189 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17190 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17191 Gnus has been loaded.
17193 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17194 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17195 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17196 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17197 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17199 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17200 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17201 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17205 @node Faces and Fonts
17206 @section Faces and Fonts
17211 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17212 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17213 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17218 @section Compilation
17219 @cindex compilation
17220 @cindex byte-compilation
17222 @findex gnus-compile
17224 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17225 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17226 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
17227 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
17228 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
17229 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17230 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17231 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17234 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17235 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17236 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17237 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
17238 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17241 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
17242 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
17243 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
17244 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
17245 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
17250 @section Mode Lines
17253 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17254 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17255 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17256 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17257 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17258 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17259 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17262 @cindex display-time
17264 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17265 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17266 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17267 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17268 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17269 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17270 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17271 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17274 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17276 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17277 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17279 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17280 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17281 (length display-time-string)))))
17284 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17285 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17286 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17287 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17288 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17291 @node Highlighting and Menus
17292 @section Highlighting and Menus
17294 @cindex highlighting
17297 @vindex gnus-visual
17298 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17299 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17300 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17303 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17304 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17307 @item group-highlight
17308 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17309 @item summary-highlight
17310 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17311 @item article-highlight
17312 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17314 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17316 Create menus in the group buffer.
17318 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17320 Create menus in the article buffer.
17322 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17324 Create menus in the server buffer.
17326 Create menus in the score buffers.
17328 Create menus in all buffers.
17331 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17332 buffers, you could say something like:
17335 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17338 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17341 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17344 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17345 in all Gnus buffers.
17347 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17350 @item gnus-mouse-face
17351 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17352 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17353 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17357 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17361 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17362 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17363 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17365 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17366 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17367 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17369 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17370 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17371 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17373 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17374 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17375 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17377 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17378 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17379 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17381 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17382 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17383 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17394 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17395 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17396 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17397 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17398 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17402 @vindex gnus-carpal
17403 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17404 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17405 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17410 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17411 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17412 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17414 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17415 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17416 Face used on buttons.
17418 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17419 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17420 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17422 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17423 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17424 Buttons in the group buffer.
17426 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17427 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17428 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17430 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17431 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17432 Buttons in the server buffer.
17434 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17435 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17436 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17439 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17440 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17441 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17449 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17450 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17451 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17452 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17453 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17455 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17456 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17457 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17459 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17460 been idle for thirty minutes:
17463 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17466 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17470 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17473 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17474 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17475 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17477 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17478 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17479 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17480 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17482 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17483 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17484 @var{idle} minutes.
17486 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17487 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17490 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17491 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17492 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
17494 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
17495 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
17496 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
17497 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
17499 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
17500 your @file{.gnus} file:
17502 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
17504 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
17507 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
17508 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
17509 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
17510 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
17511 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
17512 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
17513 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
17514 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
17515 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
17516 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
17517 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
17519 @findex gnus-demon-init
17520 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
17521 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
17522 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
17523 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
17524 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
17526 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
17527 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
17528 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
17537 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
17538 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
17540 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
17541 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
17542 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
17543 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
17546 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
17547 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
17548 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
17549 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
17551 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
17552 this will make spam disappear.
17554 There are some variables to customize, of course:
17557 @item gnus-use-nocem
17558 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
17559 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
17562 @item gnus-nocem-groups
17563 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
17564 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
17565 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
17566 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
17568 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
17569 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
17570 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
17571 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
17572 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
17573 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
17574 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
17576 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
17579 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
17580 @cindex Chris Lewis
17581 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
17582 usenet abuse than anybody else.
17585 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
17586 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
17587 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
17589 @item jem@@xpat.com;
17591 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
17594 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
17595 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
17596 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
17599 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
17600 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
17601 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
17602 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
17603 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
17604 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
17605 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
17606 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
17607 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
17608 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
17610 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
17611 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
17614 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
17617 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
17618 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
17621 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
17624 The specs are applied left-to-right.
17627 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
17628 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
17630 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
17631 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
17632 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
17633 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
17635 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
17636 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
17639 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
17641 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
17649 This might be dangerous, though.
17651 @item gnus-nocem-directory
17652 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
17653 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
17654 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
17656 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17657 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17658 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
17659 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
17660 might then see old spam.
17664 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
17665 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
17666 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
17667 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
17674 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
17675 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
17676 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
17678 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
17679 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
17680 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
17681 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
17682 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
17683 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
17684 @code{undo} function.
17686 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
17687 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
17688 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
17689 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
17690 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
17691 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
17692 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
17693 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
17694 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
17695 never be totally undoable.
17697 @findex gnus-undo-mode
17698 @vindex gnus-use-undo
17700 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
17701 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
17702 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
17703 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
17708 @section Moderation
17711 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
17712 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
17713 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
17716 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
17720 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
17723 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17725 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
17730 You split your incoming mail by matching on
17731 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
17732 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
17735 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
17736 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
17739 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
17740 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
17744 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
17747 (setq gnus-moderated-list
17748 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
17752 @node XEmacs Enhancements
17753 @section XEmacs Enhancements
17756 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
17760 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
17761 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
17762 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
17763 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
17776 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
17777 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
17778 over your shoulder as you read news.
17781 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
17782 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
17783 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
17784 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
17785 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
17790 @subsubsection Picon Basics
17792 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
17801 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
17802 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
17803 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
17804 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
17805 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
17806 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
17807 @code{GIF} formats.
17810 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17811 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
17812 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
17813 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
17814 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
17816 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17817 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
17818 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
17819 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
17820 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17821 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17824 @node Picon Requirements
17825 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17827 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17828 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17831 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17832 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17833 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17835 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17836 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17837 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17838 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17839 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17843 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17845 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17846 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17849 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17850 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17853 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17854 containing the Picons databases.
17856 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17859 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17860 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17865 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17873 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17874 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17875 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17876 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17877 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17882 @item gnus-picons-database
17883 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17884 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17885 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17886 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17887 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17888 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17890 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17891 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17892 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17893 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17894 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17895 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17896 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17898 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17899 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17900 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17901 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17902 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17903 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17904 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17905 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17907 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17908 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17909 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17914 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17915 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17917 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17918 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17921 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17923 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17924 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17925 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17926 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17928 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17929 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17930 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17936 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17937 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17945 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17946 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17947 don't need to worry about.
17951 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17952 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17953 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17954 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17956 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17957 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17958 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17959 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17961 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17962 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17963 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17964 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17965 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17967 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17968 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17969 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17970 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17971 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17972 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17973 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17975 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17976 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17977 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17978 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17980 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17981 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17982 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17983 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17984 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17985 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17986 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17988 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17989 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17990 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17991 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17993 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17994 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17995 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17996 Defaults to @code{t}.
17998 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17999 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18000 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18001 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18003 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18004 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18005 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18007 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18008 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18009 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18010 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18012 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18013 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
18015 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18016 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18017 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18018 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18019 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18020 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18021 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18022 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18033 @subsection Smileys
18038 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18043 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18044 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18046 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18047 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18050 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18053 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18054 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18055 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18056 text and maps that to file names.
18058 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18059 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18060 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18061 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18062 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18063 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18065 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18066 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18068 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18069 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18070 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18072 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18073 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18077 @item smiley-data-directory
18078 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18079 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18081 @item smiley-flesh-color
18082 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18083 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18085 @item smiley-features-color
18086 @vindex smiley-features-color
18087 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18089 @item smiley-tongue-color
18090 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18091 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18093 @item smiley-circle-color
18094 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18095 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18097 @item smiley-mouse-face
18098 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18099 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18105 @subsection Toolbar
18115 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18116 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18117 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18118 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18119 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18121 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18122 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18123 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18125 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18126 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18127 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18129 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18130 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18131 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18137 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18140 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18141 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18142 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18143 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18144 unusual directory structure.
18146 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18147 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18148 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18149 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18151 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18152 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18153 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18154 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18155 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18156 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18158 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18159 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18160 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18174 @node Fuzzy Matching
18175 @section Fuzzy Matching
18176 @cindex fuzzy matching
18178 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18179 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18181 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18182 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18183 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18185 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18186 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18187 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18188 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18189 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18192 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18193 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18197 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18199 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18200 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18201 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18202 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18203 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18204 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18205 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18206 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18209 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18210 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18211 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18212 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18213 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18214 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18218 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18219 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18221 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18222 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18223 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18224 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18225 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18226 part of the mail address.)
18229 (setq message-default-news-headers
18230 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18233 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18234 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18239 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18240 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18241 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18247 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18248 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18249 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18250 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18252 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18253 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18254 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18255 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18256 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18257 your fancy split rule in this way:
18262 (to "larsi" "misc")
18266 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18267 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18268 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18269 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18270 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18272 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18273 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18274 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
18275 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18276 cosmic balance somewhat.
18278 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18279 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18280 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18281 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18284 @node Various Various
18285 @section Various Various
18291 @item gnus-home-directory
18292 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18293 defaults to @file{~/}.
18295 @item gnus-directory
18296 @vindex gnus-directory
18297 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18298 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18299 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18301 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18302 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18303 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18304 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18306 @item gnus-default-directory
18307 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18308 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18309 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18310 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18311 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18312 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18313 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18316 @vindex gnus-verbose
18317 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18318 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18319 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18320 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18321 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18323 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18324 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18325 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18326 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18328 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18329 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18330 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18331 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18332 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18333 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18334 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18335 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18336 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18337 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18339 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18340 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18341 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18342 read when doing the operation described above.
18344 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18345 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18347 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18348 @cindex characters in file names
18349 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18350 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18351 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18354 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18358 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18359 Windows (phooey) systems.
18361 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18362 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18363 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18364 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18365 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18367 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18368 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18369 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18370 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18371 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18373 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18374 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18375 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18377 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18378 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18380 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
18381 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
18382 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
18383 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
18386 IMAP users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
18395 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18396 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18398 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18400 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18406 Not because of victories @*
18409 but for the common sunshine,@*
18411 the largess of the spring.
18415 but for the day's work done@*
18416 as well as I was able;@*
18417 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18418 but at the common table.@*
18423 @chapter Appendices
18426 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18427 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18428 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18429 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18430 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18431 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18432 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18433 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18441 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18442 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18444 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18445 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18446 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
18447 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18448 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18450 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18451 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18452 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18453 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18454 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18455 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18457 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18458 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18459 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18460 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18463 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18464 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18465 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18466 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18467 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18468 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18469 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18470 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18471 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18472 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
18476 @node Gnus Versions
18477 @subsection Gnus Versions
18478 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18480 @cindex September Gnus
18481 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18483 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18484 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18485 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18487 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18488 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18490 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18491 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18493 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18494 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18496 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18497 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18500 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18501 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
18502 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
18503 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
18504 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
18508 @node Other Gnus Versions
18509 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
18512 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
18513 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
18514 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
18515 @sc{mime} capabilities.
18517 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
18518 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
18519 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
18520 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
18527 What's the point of Gnus?
18529 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
18530 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
18531 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
18532 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
18533 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
18534 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
18535 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
18536 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
18537 keep track of millions of people who post?
18539 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
18540 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
18541 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
18542 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
18543 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
18544 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
18545 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
18546 every one of you to explore and invent.
18548 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
18549 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
18552 @node Compatibility
18553 @subsection Compatibility
18555 @cindex compatibility
18556 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
18557 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
18558 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
18563 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
18567 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
18570 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
18573 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
18574 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
18575 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
18576 important variables have their values copied into their global
18577 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
18578 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
18580 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
18581 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
18582 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
18583 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
18584 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
18588 @cindex highlighting
18589 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
18590 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
18591 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
18592 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
18593 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
18594 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
18597 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
18598 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
18599 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
18600 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
18602 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
18603 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
18604 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
18605 to stop doing it the old way.
18607 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
18609 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18611 @cindex reporting bugs
18613 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
18614 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
18615 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
18617 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
18618 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
18619 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
18620 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
18625 @subsection Conformity
18627 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
18628 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
18635 There are no known breaches of this standard.
18639 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
18641 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
18642 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
18643 We do have some breaches to this one.
18649 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
18650 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
18651 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
18652 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
18653 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
18658 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
18659 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
18660 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
18661 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
18665 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
18666 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
18671 @subsection Emacsen
18677 Gnus should work on :
18685 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
18689 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
18690 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
18691 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
18692 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
18693 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
18695 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
18696 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
18697 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
18701 @node Gnus Development
18702 @subsection Gnus Development
18704 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
18705 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
18706 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
18707 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
18708 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
18709 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
18710 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
18711 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
18713 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
18714 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
18715 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
18716 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
18717 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
18720 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
18721 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
18722 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
18723 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
18724 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
18726 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
18727 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
18728 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
18729 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
18730 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
18731 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
18732 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
18733 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
18734 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
18735 can't be assumed to do so.
18740 @subsection Contributors
18741 @cindex contributors
18743 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
18744 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
18745 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
18746 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
18747 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
18748 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
18749 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
18750 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
18751 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
18752 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
18754 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
18760 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
18763 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
18764 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
18765 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
18766 functionality and stuff.
18769 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
18770 well as numerous other things).
18773 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
18776 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
18779 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
18782 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
18783 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
18786 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
18789 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
18790 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18793 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
18796 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
18799 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
18802 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
18805 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
18806 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
18809 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
18812 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
18815 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
18818 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
18822 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
18825 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
18828 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
18831 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
18832 well as autoconf support.
18836 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18837 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18839 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18848 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18852 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18862 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18877 Massimo Campostrini,
18882 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18883 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18887 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18890 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18896 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18901 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18905 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18913 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18915 Michelangelo Grigni,
18919 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18921 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18923 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18930 François Felix Ingrand,
18931 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18932 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18934 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18945 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18946 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18948 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18949 Thor Kristoffersen,
18952 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18970 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18971 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18978 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18983 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18987 John McClary Prevost,
18993 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18998 Christian von Roques,
19001 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19008 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19010 Randal L. Schwartz,
19024 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19029 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19045 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19050 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19051 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19052 (550kB and counting).
19054 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19057 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19058 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19062 @subsection New Features
19063 @cindex new features
19066 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19067 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
19068 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19069 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19072 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19073 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19074 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19078 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19080 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19085 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19086 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19089 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19090 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19093 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19096 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19097 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19098 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19101 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19102 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19103 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19104 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19107 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19108 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19111 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19112 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19113 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19116 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19117 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19120 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19121 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19122 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19125 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19126 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19127 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19130 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19131 the @file{.emacs} file.
19134 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19135 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19138 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19139 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19142 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19143 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19146 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19147 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19150 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19151 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19154 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19157 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19158 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19161 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19162 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19165 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19166 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19169 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19172 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19173 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19176 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19180 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19184 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19185 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19188 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19194 @node September Gnus
19195 @subsubsection September Gnus
19199 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19203 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19208 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19209 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19213 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19214 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19218 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19222 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19223 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19226 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19230 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19233 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19236 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19239 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19243 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19244 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19247 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19251 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19255 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19259 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19263 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19266 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19267 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19270 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19274 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19275 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19278 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19281 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19282 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19283 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19286 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19290 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19293 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19297 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19298 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19301 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19302 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19305 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19306 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19309 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19310 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19311 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19314 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19315 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19318 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19321 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19324 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19327 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19330 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19331 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19334 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19338 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19341 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19346 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19349 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19353 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19356 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19360 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19363 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19366 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19367 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19370 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19371 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19375 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19376 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19379 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19383 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19384 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19387 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19390 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19394 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19398 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19399 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19402 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19406 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19407 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19410 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19411 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19414 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19418 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19421 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19424 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19430 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19432 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19436 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19443 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19446 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19447 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19450 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19451 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19455 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19456 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19459 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19462 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19463 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19466 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19470 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19471 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19475 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19476 Server Internals}).
19479 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19483 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19486 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19487 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19490 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19491 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19492 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19495 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19496 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19499 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19500 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
19503 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
19507 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
19508 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19511 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
19512 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19515 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
19519 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
19522 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
19526 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
19527 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19530 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
19531 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19534 A new command for reading collections of documents
19535 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
19536 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
19539 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
19543 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
19544 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
19547 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
19548 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
19549 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
19552 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
19553 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
19557 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
19561 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
19565 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
19570 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
19574 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
19578 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
19579 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
19582 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
19588 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
19590 New features in Gnus 5.6:
19595 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
19596 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
19597 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
19600 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
19601 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
19602 group, which is created automatically.
19605 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
19609 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
19612 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
19613 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
19616 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
19620 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
19623 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
19624 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
19627 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
19630 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
19631 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
19634 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
19635 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
19638 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
19639 control over simplification.
19642 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
19645 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
19649 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
19652 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
19655 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
19656 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
19657 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
19660 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
19661 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
19664 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
19668 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
19669 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
19672 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
19673 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
19676 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
19680 A history of where mails have been split is available.
19683 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
19686 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
19687 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
19690 A new function for citing in Message has been
19691 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
19694 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
19697 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
19701 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
19702 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
19705 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
19706 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
19709 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
19712 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
19717 @node Newest Features
19718 @subsection Newest Features
19721 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
19724 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
19726 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
19727 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
19730 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
19735 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
19736 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
19739 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
19742 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
19745 facep is not declared.
19748 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
19749 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
19752 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
19757 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
19758 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
19759 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
19760 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
19761 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
19762 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
19763 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
19768 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
19771 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
19774 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
19776 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
19777 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
19779 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
19781 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
19783 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
19784 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
19786 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
19788 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
19789 be marked as unread.
19791 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
19793 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
19795 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
19796 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
19798 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
19800 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
19802 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
19803 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
19805 topics that contain just groups with ticked
19806 articles aren't displayed.
19808 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
19810 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
19811 make the mail groups killed.
19813 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
19815 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
19816 and articles have to be removed.
19818 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
19821 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
19823 finding short score file names takes forever.
19825 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19827 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
19829 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
19831 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
19833 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19835 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19837 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19838 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19842 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19844 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19845 bar and the Gnus bar.
19848 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19849 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19850 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19851 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19852 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19853 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19858 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19862 postponed commands.
19864 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19866 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19869 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19870 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19872 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19873 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19875 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19877 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19878 for backends that support that.
19880 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19882 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19883 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19885 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19886 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19888 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19890 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19892 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19894 server mode command: close/open all connections
19896 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19897 has been changed before using it.
19899 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19901 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19903 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19905 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19907 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19908 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19910 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19911 contain groups that match a regexp.
19913 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19916 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19919 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19920 from subject lines.
19922 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19924 nntp-ping-before-connect
19926 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19928 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19929 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19931 message annotations.
19933 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19935 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19936 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19938 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19943 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19945 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19947 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19949 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19950 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19952 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19954 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19956 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19957 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19959 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19960 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19962 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19964 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19966 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19967 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19969 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19971 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19973 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19974 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19977 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19979 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19981 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19982 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19984 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19987 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19988 should be marker as expirable.
19990 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19992 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19993 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19995 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19996 Also consult Date headers.
19998 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
20000 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
20002 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
20003 Message-ID, delete the "original".
20005 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
20006 into a See-Also header.
20008 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
20010 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
20012 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
20013 should be listed as such and not as "K".
20015 generate font names dynamically.
20017 score file mode auto-alist.
20019 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
20020 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
20022 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
20023 absolutely all headers there is.
20025 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
20026 and pipe them to the process.
20028 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
20029 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
20030 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
20032 function for starting to edit a file to put into
20033 the current mail group.
20035 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
20037 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
20038 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
20040 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
20041 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
20043 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
20045 when replying to several process-marked articles,
20046 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
20048 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
20049 groups it has been mailed to.
20051 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
20053 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
20055 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
20057 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
20058 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
20060 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
20061 newlines) should be ignored.
20063 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
20064 groups in subtopics as well.
20066 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
20068 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
20071 add edit and forward secondary marks.
20073 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
20075 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
20077 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
20079 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
20081 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
20083 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
20084 or the formatted article.
20086 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
20088 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
20089 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
20091 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
20093 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
20095 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
20097 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
20098 even unread articles.
20100 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
20102 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
20104 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
20106 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
20108 canceling articles in foreign groups.
20110 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
20113 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
20114 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
20116 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
20117 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
20119 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
20121 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
20123 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
20124 from a particular server? Hm.
20126 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
20127 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
20129 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
20131 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
20132 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
20134 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
20135 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
20137 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
20138 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
20139 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
20142 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
20143 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
20145 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
20147 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
20149 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
20151 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
20154 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
20157 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
20158 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
20160 command to show and edit group scores
20162 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
20165 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
20167 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
20169 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
20170 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
20173 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
20174 that are of that length.
20176 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
20178 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
20180 asynchronous posting under nntp.
20182 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
20184 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
20186 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
20188 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
20189 a score lower than this number.
20191 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
20193 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
20195 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
20196 so that each copy can be edited separately.
20198 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
20200 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
20201 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
20203 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
20206 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
20207 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
20208 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
20209 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
20211 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
20214 command to remove all topic stuff.
20216 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
20217 and splitting the resulting digests.
20219 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
20221 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
20223 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
20224 matches an alist -- before saving.
20226 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
20228 variable to activate each group before entering them
20229 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
20231 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
20232 starting Gnus first if necessary.
20234 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
20235 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
20237 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
20239 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
20240 of several groups at once.
20242 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
20243 matches some regexp(s).
20245 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
20247 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
20249 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
20251 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
20253 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
20255 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
20257 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
20259 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
20260 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
20261 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
20262 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
20264 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
20265 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
20267 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
20269 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
20270 recently cited text.
20272 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
20274 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
20277 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
20278 server and just read the articles in the server
20280 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
20281 value of nnoo variables.
20283 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
20285 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
20286 listed in each group info.
20288 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
20291 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
20292 should only be applied to some groups.
20294 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
20295 mail-copies-to: never.
20297 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
20298 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
20300 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
20302 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
20305 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
20308 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
20310 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
20313 group user-defined meta-parameters.
20317 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
20319 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
20320 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
20321 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
20322 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
20323 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
20325 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
20326 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
20333 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
20334 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
20336 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
20337 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
20339 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
20340 "Return the date the group was last read."
20341 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
20346 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
20347 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
20348 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
20349 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
20353 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
20354 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
20356 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
20359 They could be used like this:
20363 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
20364 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
20365 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
20367 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
20369 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
20372 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
20375 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
20376 affect the summary line format.
20380 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
20382 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
20383 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
20385 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
20388 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
20390 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
20392 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
20394 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
20396 - For other files, just find them normally.
20398 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
20399 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
20402 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
20403 tell him what you are doing.
20406 Currently, I get prompted:
20410 decend into sci.something ?
20414 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
20415 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
20416 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
20417 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
20420 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
20421 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
20422 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
20423 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
20426 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
20427 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
20433 more than n blank lines
20435 more than m identical lines
20436 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
20438 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
20442 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
20443 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
20444 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
20445 "same" subject for threading purposes.
20448 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
20449 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
20450 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
20451 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
20454 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
20457 soup - bowl of soup
20458 score below - dim light bulb
20459 score over - bright light bulb
20462 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
20467 show-list-of-articles-in-group
20468 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20469 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
20470 if (articles-selected)
20471 start-reading-selected-articles;
20472 junk-unread-articles;
20477 else if (key-pressed = '.')
20478 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
20479 select-thread-under-cursor;
20481 select-article-under-cursor;
20485 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20486 if (more-pages-in-article)
20488 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
20495 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
20496 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
20497 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
20500 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
20501 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
20502 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
20503 the wildcard expression).
20506 It would be nice if it also handled
20508 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
20510 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
20515 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
20516 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
20517 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
20518 article versions) variable.
20520 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
20522 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
20523 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
20527 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
20530 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
20531 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
20532 (message-sent-hook).
20534 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
20537 * Enhancements to Gnus:
20541 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
20542 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
20545 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
20546 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
20547 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
20550 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
20551 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
20555 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
20558 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
20562 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
20563 the nnmail duplicate checking.
20566 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
20567 value of the signature file.
20570 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
20571 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
20574 (setq message-tab-alist
20575 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
20576 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
20578 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
20582 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
20585 a command to import a buffer into a group.
20588 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
20591 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
20592 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
20595 a command to process mark all unread articles.
20598 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
20599 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
20600 do more gathering by subject.
20603 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
20604 article numerical order.
20607 (gnus-thread-total-score
20608 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
20612 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
20615 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
20616 in the summary buffer.
20619 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
20620 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
20623 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
20624 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
20625 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
20626 and/or newsgroup name.
20629 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
20632 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
20635 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
20638 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
20639 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
20640 will automatically get the process mark.
20643 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
20644 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
20645 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
20648 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
20652 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
20653 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
20656 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
20657 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
20661 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
20662 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
20665 be able to post via DejaNews.
20668 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
20671 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
20672 allow them to be displayed separately.
20675 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
20676 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
20679 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
20680 articles that match a certain From header.
20683 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
20684 saving living summary buffers.
20687 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
20688 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
20691 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
20692 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
20695 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
20696 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
20699 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
20700 (goto-char (point-min))
20701 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
20702 (replace-match "`" t t))
20703 (goto-char (point-min))
20704 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
20705 (replace-match "'" t t))
20706 (goto-char (point-min))
20707 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
20708 (replace-match "\"" t t))
20709 (goto-char (point-min))
20710 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
20711 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
20716 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
20718 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
20719 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
20720 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
20721 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
20725 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
20728 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
20729 numbers and match on the age of the article.
20733 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
20734 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
20735 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
20737 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
20738 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
20740 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
20741 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
20746 all commands that react to the process mark should push
20747 the current process mark set onto the stack.
20750 gnus-article-hide-pgp
20751 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
20753 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
20755 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
20756 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
20759 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
20760 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
20763 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
20767 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
20768 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
20771 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
20774 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
20777 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
20780 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
20784 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
20790 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
20793 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
20797 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
20798 X characters in the body.
20801 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
20804 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
20807 format spec to "tab" to a position.
20810 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
20813 command to display all dormant articles.
20816 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
20819 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
20820 to something someone else has said.
20823 Read Netscape discussion groups:
20824 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
20827 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
20828 the displayed version.
20831 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20835 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20838 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20839 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20840 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20844 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20845 in the head or body.
20848 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20851 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20854 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20855 in a special, unique buffer.
20858 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20861 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20862 is less than a certain number of days old.
20865 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20868 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20871 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20872 file, for instance.
20875 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20876 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
20877 dummy root instead of the first article.
20880 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20881 topics for displaying.
20884 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20885 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20888 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20891 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20892 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20893 summary buffer for each article.
20896 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20899 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20903 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20906 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20910 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20913 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20916 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20917 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20920 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20921 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20924 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20925 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20928 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20929 timeout for all commands.
20932 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20933 It should go somewhere else.
20936 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20937 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20938 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20940 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20941 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20943 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20944 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20951 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20952 --text follows this line--
20953 Sorry I killfiled you...
20955 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20957 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20962 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20966 - Edit article's summary line.
20968 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20970 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20976 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20980 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20981 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20985 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20988 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20991 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20992 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
20993 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
20994 turn into a [-] button.)
20997 Perhaps there should be a command to "attach" a buffer of comments to
20998 a message? That is, `B WHATEVER', you're popped into a buffer, write
20999 something, end with `C-c C-c', and then the thing you've written gets
21000 to be the child of the message you're commenting.
21003 Handle external-body parts.
21006 When renaming a group name, nnmail-split-history does not get the group
21010 Allow mail splitting on bodies when using advanced mail splitting.
21013 (body "whatever.text")
21017 Be able to run `J u' from summary buffers.
21020 Solve the halting problem.
21029 @section The Manual
21033 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21034 either @code{texi2dvi}
21036 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21037 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21039 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21041 The following conventions have been used:
21046 This is a @samp{string}
21049 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21052 This is a @file{file}
21055 This is a @code{symbol}
21059 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21063 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21066 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21069 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21072 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21073 ever get them confused.
21077 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21078 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21079 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21080 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21081 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21082 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21083 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21089 @node On Writing Manuals
21090 @section On Writing Manuals
21092 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21093 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21094 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21095 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21096 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21097 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21100 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21101 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21102 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21105 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21106 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21111 @section Terminology
21113 @cindex terminology
21118 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21119 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21120 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21121 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21122 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21126 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21127 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21128 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21129 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21133 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21137 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21142 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
21143 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21144 is all done by the backends.
21148 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
21149 default, way of getting news.
21153 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21154 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
21159 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21160 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21164 A message that has been posted as news.
21167 @cindex mail message
21168 A message that has been mailed.
21172 A mail message or news article
21176 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21181 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21186 A line from the head of an article.
21190 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21191 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21195 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
21196 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21197 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21198 normal @sc{head} format.
21202 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21203 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21204 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21205 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21206 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21207 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21209 @item killed groups
21210 @cindex killed groups
21211 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21212 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21214 @item zombie groups
21215 @cindex zombie groups
21216 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21219 @cindex active file
21220 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21221 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21222 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21225 @cindex bogus groups
21226 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21227 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21228 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21231 @cindex activating groups
21232 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21233 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21234 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21238 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21240 @item select method
21241 @cindex select method
21242 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
21245 @item virtual server
21246 @cindex virtual server
21247 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21248 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21249 whole is a virtual server.
21253 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21254 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21257 @item ephemeral groups
21258 @cindex ephemeral groups
21259 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21260 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21261 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21264 @cindex solid groups
21265 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21266 group buffer are solid groups.
21268 @item sparse articles
21269 @cindex sparse articles
21270 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21271 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21275 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21276 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21280 @cindex thread root
21281 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21282 articles in the thread.
21286 An article that has responses.
21290 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21294 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21295 specified by RFC 1153.
21301 @node Customization
21302 @section Customization
21303 @cindex general customization
21305 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21306 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21307 for some quite common situations.
21310 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21311 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21312 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21313 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21317 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21318 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21320 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21321 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21322 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21326 @item gnus-read-active-file
21327 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21328 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21329 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21330 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21331 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21333 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21334 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21335 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21336 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21340 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21341 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21343 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21344 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21345 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21349 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21350 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21351 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21352 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21353 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21355 @item gnus-visible-headers
21356 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21357 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21358 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21359 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21361 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21363 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21364 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21365 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21368 @item gnus-use-full-window
21369 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21370 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21371 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21372 want to read them anyway.
21374 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21375 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21378 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21379 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21380 lines, which might save some time.
21384 @node Little Disk Space
21385 @subsection Little Disk Space
21388 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21389 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21393 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21394 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21395 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21396 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21399 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21400 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21401 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21402 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21405 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21406 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21407 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21408 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21409 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21415 @subsection Slow Machine
21416 @cindex slow machine
21418 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21419 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21421 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21422 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21424 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21425 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21426 summary buffer faster.
21430 @node Troubleshooting
21431 @section Troubleshooting
21432 @cindex troubleshooting
21434 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21442 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21445 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21446 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21450 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21451 like @samp{T-gnus 6.14.* (based on Pterodactyl Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*,
21452 FLIM 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you
21453 get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some
21454 old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21457 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21461 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21462 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21463 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21464 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21465 something like that.
21468 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21471 @cindex reporting bugs
21473 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21475 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21476 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21477 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21478 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21480 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21481 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21482 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21483 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21486 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21487 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21488 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21489 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21490 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21491 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21493 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21494 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21495 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21498 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21499 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21501 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21502 @cindex ding mailing list
21503 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21504 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21508 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21509 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21511 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21512 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21513 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21514 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21517 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21518 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21519 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21520 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21521 and general methods of operation.
21524 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21525 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21526 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21527 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21528 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21529 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21530 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21531 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21532 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21536 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21537 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21538 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21539 @cindex utility functions
21541 @cindex internal variables
21543 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21544 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21545 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21549 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21550 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21551 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21553 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21554 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21555 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21557 @item gnus-group-real-name
21558 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21559 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21562 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21563 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21564 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21565 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21567 @item gnus-get-info
21568 @findex gnus-get-info
21569 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21571 @item gnus-group-unread
21572 @findex gnus-group-unread
21573 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21577 @findex gnus-active
21578 The active entry for @var{group}.
21580 @item gnus-set-active
21581 @findex gnus-set-active
21582 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21584 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21585 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21586 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21589 @item gnus-continuum-version
21590 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21591 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21592 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21595 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21596 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21597 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21599 @item gnus-news-group-p
21600 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21601 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21603 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21604 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21605 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21607 @item gnus-server-to-method
21608 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21609 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21611 @item gnus-server-equal
21612 @findex gnus-server-equal
21613 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21615 @item gnus-group-native-p
21616 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21617 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21619 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21620 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21621 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21623 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21624 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21625 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21627 @item group-group-find-parameter
21628 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21629 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21630 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21632 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21633 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21634 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21636 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21637 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21638 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21640 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21641 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21642 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21643 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21646 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21650 @item gnus-read-method
21651 @findex gnus-read-method
21652 Prompts the user for a select method.
21657 @node Backend Interface
21658 @subsection Backend Interface
21660 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21661 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21662 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21663 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21664 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21665 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21667 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21668 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21669 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21670 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21671 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21672 been opened, the function should fail.
21674 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21675 name. Take this example:
21679 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21680 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21683 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21684 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21686 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21687 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21688 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21690 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21691 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21692 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21694 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21695 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21696 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21697 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21698 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21699 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21702 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21703 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21704 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21705 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21708 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21711 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21714 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21715 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21716 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21717 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21718 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21719 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21723 @node Required Backend Functions
21724 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21728 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21730 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21731 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21732 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21733 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21735 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21736 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21737 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21738 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21740 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21741 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21742 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21743 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21744 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21745 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21746 number, do maximum fetches.
21748 Here's an example HEAD:
21751 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21752 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21753 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21754 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21755 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21756 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21757 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21759 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21760 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21761 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21765 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21766 these in the data buffer.
21768 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21772 head = error / valid-head
21773 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21774 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21775 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21776 header = <text> eol
21779 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21780 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21784 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21785 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21786 field = <text except TAB>
21789 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21793 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21795 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21796 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21798 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21799 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21800 server. In fact, it should do so.
21802 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21803 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21806 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21808 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21809 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21812 There should be no data returned.
21815 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21817 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21818 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21819 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21820 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21822 There should be no data returned.
21825 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21827 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21828 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21829 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21830 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21832 There should be no data returned.
21835 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21837 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21839 There should be no data returned.
21842 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21844 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21845 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21846 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21847 it would be nice if that were possible.
21849 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21850 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21851 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21852 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21853 into its article buffer.
21855 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21856 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21857 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21858 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21859 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21860 on successful article retrieval.
21863 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21865 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21866 making @var{group} the current group.
21868 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21871 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21874 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21877 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21878 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21879 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21880 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21881 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21882 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21883 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21884 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21887 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21888 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21889 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21893 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21895 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21896 a no-op on most backends.
21898 There should be no data returned.
21901 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21903 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21906 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21909 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21910 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21913 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21914 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21917 active-file = *active-line
21918 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21920 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21923 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21924 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21925 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21928 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21930 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21931 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21932 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21933 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21934 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21935 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21937 There should be no result data from this function.
21942 @node Optional Backend Functions
21943 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21947 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21949 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21950 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21951 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21953 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21954 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21955 former is in the same format as the data from
21956 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21957 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21960 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21964 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21966 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21967 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21968 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21969 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21970 should return the (altered) group info.
21972 There should be no result data from this function.
21975 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21977 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21978 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21979 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21980 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21981 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21982 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21983 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21984 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21986 There should be no result data from this function.
21989 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21991 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21992 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21993 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21994 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21995 propagate the mark information to the server.
21997 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22000 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22003 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
22004 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
22005 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
22006 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
22007 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
22008 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
22009 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
22010 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
22011 not limit itself to these.
22013 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22014 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22015 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22016 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22018 An example action list:
22021 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22022 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22023 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22026 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22027 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22029 There should be no result data from this function.
22031 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22033 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
22034 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22035 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22036 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
22037 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22039 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22040 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22041 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22044 There should be no result data from this function.
22047 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22049 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22050 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
22051 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
22052 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22053 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
22054 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22055 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22057 There should be no result data from this function.
22060 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22062 The result data from this function should be a description of
22066 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22068 description = <text>
22071 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22073 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22074 groups available on the server.
22077 description-buffer = *description-line
22081 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22083 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22084 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
22085 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
22088 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22090 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22092 There should be no return data.
22095 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22097 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22098 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22099 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
22100 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22101 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22104 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22107 There should be no result data returned.
22110 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22113 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22114 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22116 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22117 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22118 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22119 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22120 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22121 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22123 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22124 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22127 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22128 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22130 There should be no data returned.
22133 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22135 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22136 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22137 this function in short order.
22139 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22140 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22142 There should be no data returned.
22145 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22147 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22148 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22150 There should be no data returned.
22153 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22155 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22156 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22157 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22159 There should be no data returned.
22162 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22164 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22165 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22167 There should be no data returned.
22172 @node Error Messaging
22173 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22175 @findex nnheader-report
22176 @findex nnheader-get-report
22177 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22178 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22179 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
22180 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22181 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22182 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22185 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22187 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22190 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22191 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22192 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
22193 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22195 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
22196 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
22197 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22200 @node Writing New Backends
22201 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
22203 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22204 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22205 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22206 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22207 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22210 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22211 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22212 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22214 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22215 package called @code{nnoo}.
22217 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
22218 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
22224 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22225 parameters. For instance:
22228 (nnoo-declare nndir
22232 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22233 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22236 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22237 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22238 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22240 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22241 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
22242 a function in those backends.
22245 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22246 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22247 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22250 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22251 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22252 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22254 @item nnoo-define-basics
22255 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
22259 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22263 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22264 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22265 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
22267 @item nnoo-map-functions
22268 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
22269 functions from the parent backends.
22272 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22273 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22274 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22277 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22278 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22279 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22280 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22283 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
22284 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22285 haven't already been defined.
22291 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22295 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22296 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22297 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22302 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
22305 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22306 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22310 (require 'nnheader)
22314 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22316 (nnoo-declare nndir
22319 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22320 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22321 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22323 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22324 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22327 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22328 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22329 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22331 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22332 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22334 ;;; Interface functions.
22336 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22338 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22339 (setq nndir-directory
22340 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22342 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22343 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22344 (push `(nndir-current-group
22345 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22347 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22348 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22350 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22352 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22353 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22354 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22355 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22356 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22360 nnmh-status-message
22362 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22368 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22369 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22371 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22372 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
22373 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22374 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22376 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
22377 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22382 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22385 The abilities can be:
22389 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22391 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22393 This backend supports both mail and news.
22395 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22398 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22399 articles and groups.
22401 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22402 true for almost all backends.
22403 @item prompt-address
22404 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22405 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22406 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22410 @node Mail-like Backends
22411 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22413 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22414 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22415 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22416 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22419 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22420 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22421 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22424 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22425 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22428 This function takes four parameters.
22432 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22435 @item exit-function
22436 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22438 @item temp-directory
22439 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22442 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22443 performed for one group only.
22446 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22447 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22448 find the article number assigned to this article.
22450 The function also uses the following variables:
22451 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22452 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22453 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22454 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22458 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22459 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22463 @node Score File Syntax
22464 @subsection Score File Syntax
22466 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22467 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22468 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22470 Here's a typical score file:
22474 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22481 BNF definition of a score file:
22484 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22485 element = rule / atom
22486 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22487 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22488 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22489 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22491 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22492 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22493 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22494 date-header = "date"
22495 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22496 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22497 score = "nil" / <integer>
22498 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22499 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22500 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22501 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22502 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22503 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22504 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22505 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22506 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22507 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22508 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22509 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22510 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22511 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22512 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22513 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22514 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22515 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22516 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22517 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22518 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22519 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22520 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22521 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22522 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22523 eval = "eval" space <form>
22524 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22527 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22530 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22531 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22532 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22533 one looong line, then that's ok.
22535 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22536 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22540 @subsection Headers
22542 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22543 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22544 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22545 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22547 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22548 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22549 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22550 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22551 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22552 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22553 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22555 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22556 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22557 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22558 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22559 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22561 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22562 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22568 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22569 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22571 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22572 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22573 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22574 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22576 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22580 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22583 is transformed into
22586 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22589 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22590 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22593 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22596 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22597 is slightly tricky:
22600 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22606 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22609 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22615 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22622 and is equal to the previous range.
22624 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22625 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22626 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22630 range = simple-range / normal-range
22631 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22632 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22633 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22634 number *[ " " contents ]
22637 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22638 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22639 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22640 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22641 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22646 @subsection Group Info
22648 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22649 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22650 describes the group.
22652 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22653 second is a more complex one:
22656 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22658 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22659 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22661 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22664 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22665 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22666 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22667 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22668 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22669 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22670 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22671 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22672 this section is about.
22674 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22675 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22676 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22678 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22681 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22682 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22683 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22684 group = quote <string> quote
22685 ralevel = rank / level
22686 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22687 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22688 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22690 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22691 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22692 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22693 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22696 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22697 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22700 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22701 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22704 @item gnus-info-group
22705 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22706 @findex gnus-info-group
22707 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22708 Get/set the group name.
22710 @item gnus-info-rank
22711 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22712 @findex gnus-info-rank
22713 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22714 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22716 @item gnus-info-level
22717 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22718 @findex gnus-info-level
22719 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22720 Get/set the group level.
22722 @item gnus-info-score
22723 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22724 @findex gnus-info-score
22725 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22726 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22728 @item gnus-info-read
22729 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22730 @findex gnus-info-read
22731 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22732 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22734 @item gnus-info-marks
22735 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22736 @findex gnus-info-marks
22737 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22738 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22740 @item gnus-info-method
22741 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22742 @findex gnus-info-method
22743 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22744 Get/set the group select method.
22746 @item gnus-info-params
22747 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22748 @findex gnus-info-params
22749 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22750 Get/set the group parameters.
22753 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22754 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22756 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22757 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22758 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22759 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22762 @node Extended Interactive
22763 @subsection Extended Interactive
22764 @cindex interactive
22765 @findex gnus-interactive
22767 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22768 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22769 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22772 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22773 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22778 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22779 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22780 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22781 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22782 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22783 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22784 @code{interactive}.
22786 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22791 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22792 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22796 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22797 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22798 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22801 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22805 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22809 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22815 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22816 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22820 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22821 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22822 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22824 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22825 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22826 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22827 Gnus, that's very useful.
22829 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22830 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22831 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22832 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22833 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22834 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22835 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22836 following function:
22839 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22843 (,function ,@@args))
22847 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22848 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22849 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22852 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22853 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22854 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22856 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22857 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22858 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22861 @node Various File Formats
22862 @subsection Various File Formats
22865 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22866 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22870 @node Active File Format
22871 @subsubsection Active File Format
22873 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22874 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22877 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22880 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22881 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22882 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22883 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22884 no.general 1000 900 y
22887 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22890 active = *group-line
22891 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22892 group = <non-white-space string>
22894 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22895 low-number = <positive integer>
22896 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22899 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22900 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22903 @node Newsgroups File Format
22904 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22906 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22907 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22908 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22911 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22912 Here's the definition:
22916 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22917 group = <non-white-space string>
22919 description = <string>
22924 @node Emacs for Heathens
22925 @section Emacs for Heathens
22927 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22928 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22929 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22930 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22931 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22932 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22933 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22937 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22938 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22943 @subsection Keystrokes
22947 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22950 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22953 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22954 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22955 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22956 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22957 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22958 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22960 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22961 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22962 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22963 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22964 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22965 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22966 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22968 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22969 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22970 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22971 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22972 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22973 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22974 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22976 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22977 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22978 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22979 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22980 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22986 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22988 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22989 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22990 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22991 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22993 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22994 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22995 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22996 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22997 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22998 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22999 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23002 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23003 write the following:
23006 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23009 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23010 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23011 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23014 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23015 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23016 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23017 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23018 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23020 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23021 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23022 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23026 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23030 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23033 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23034 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23037 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23040 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23041 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23044 @include gnus-faq.texi