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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.1.2 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The news reader gnus.
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262 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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271 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
273 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
274 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
275 are preserved on all copies.
277 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
278 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
279 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
280 permission notice identical to this one.
282 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
283 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
292 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
294 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
297 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
298 are preserved on all copies.
301 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
302 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
303 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
304 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
308 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
309 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
310 permission notice identical to this one.
312 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
313 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
319 @title Semi-gnus 6.1.2 Manual
321 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
324 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
325 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
327 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
328 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
329 are preserved on all copies.
331 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
332 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
333 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
334 permission notice identical to this one.
336 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
337 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
346 @top The gnus Newsreader
350 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
351 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
352 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
355 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
356 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
357 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
358 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
359 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
360 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
362 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.1.2.
373 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
374 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
376 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
377 being accused of plagiarism:
379 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
380 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
381 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
382 even read news with it!
384 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
385 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
386 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
387 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
388 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
395 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
396 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
397 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
398 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
399 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
400 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
401 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
402 * Various:: General purpose settings.
403 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
404 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
405 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
406 * Key Index:: Key Index.
410 @chapter Starting gnus
415 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
416 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
419 @findex gnus-other-frame
420 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
421 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
422 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
424 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
425 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
426 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
428 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
429 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
432 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
433 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
434 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
435 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
436 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
437 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
438 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
439 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
440 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
441 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
442 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
446 @node Finding the News
447 @section Finding the News
450 @vindex gnus-select-method
452 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
453 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
454 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
455 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign
458 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
459 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
462 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
465 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
468 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
471 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
472 certainly be much faster.
474 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
476 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
477 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
478 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
479 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
480 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
481 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an
482 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
484 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
485 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
486 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
487 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
489 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
490 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
491 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
492 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
493 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
494 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
496 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
498 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
499 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
500 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
501 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
502 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
503 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
505 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
507 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
508 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
509 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
510 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
511 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
512 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
515 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
516 would typically set this variable to
519 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
524 @section The First Time
525 @cindex first time usage
527 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
528 be subscribed by default.
530 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
531 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
532 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
533 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
536 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
537 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
538 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
540 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
541 help you with most common problems.
543 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
544 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
548 @node The Server is Down
549 @section The Server is Down
550 @cindex server errors
552 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
553 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
554 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
556 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
557 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
558 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
559 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
560 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
561 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
562 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
564 @findex gnus-no-server
565 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
567 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
568 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
569 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
570 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
571 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
572 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
577 @section Slave Gnusae
580 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
581 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
582 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
583 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
585 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
588 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
589 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
590 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
591 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
592 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
593 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
594 will be much more expensive, of course.)
596 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
597 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
598 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
599 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
600 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
601 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
602 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
603 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
605 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
606 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
609 @node Fetching a Group
610 @section Fetching a Group
611 @cindex fetching a group
613 @findex gnus-fetch-group
614 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
615 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
616 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
617 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
618 It takes the group name as a parameter.
626 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
627 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
628 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
629 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
630 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
631 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
632 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
633 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
634 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
637 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
638 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
639 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
643 @node Checking New Groups
644 @subsection Checking New Groups
646 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
647 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
648 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
649 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
650 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
651 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
652 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
653 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
654 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
655 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
657 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
658 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
659 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
660 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
661 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
662 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
663 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
664 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
665 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
666 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
667 supporting the function properly.)
669 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
670 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
671 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
672 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
673 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
674 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
677 @node Subscription Methods
678 @subsection Subscription Methods
680 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
681 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
682 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
684 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
685 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
687 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
691 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
693 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
694 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
695 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
697 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
699 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
700 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
702 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
704 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
706 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
708 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
709 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
710 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
711 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
712 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
713 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
714 up. Or something like that.
716 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
718 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
719 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
720 will be subscribed hierarchically.
722 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
723 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
728 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
729 A closely related variable is
730 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
731 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
732 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
733 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
736 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
737 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
738 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
739 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
742 @node Filtering New Groups
743 @subsection Filtering New Groups
745 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
746 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
747 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
750 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
753 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
754 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
755 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
756 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
757 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
758 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
759 subscribing these groups.
760 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
761 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
763 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
764 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
765 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
766 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
767 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
768 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
769 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
770 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
772 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
773 Yet another variable that meddles here is
774 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
775 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
776 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
777 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
778 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
779 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
780 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
781 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
783 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
784 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
787 @node Changing Servers
788 @section Changing Servers
789 @cindex changing servers
791 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
792 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
793 very flaky and you want to use another.
795 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
796 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
800 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
801 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
802 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
803 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
806 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
807 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
808 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
809 functions more than absolutely necessary.
811 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
812 @findex gnus-change-server
813 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
814 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
815 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
816 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
817 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
819 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
820 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
821 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
822 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
823 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
825 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
826 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
827 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
828 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
829 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
830 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
834 @section Startup Files
835 @cindex startup files
840 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
841 information is traditionally stored in this file.
843 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
844 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
845 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
846 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
847 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
848 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
849 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
851 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
852 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
853 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
854 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
855 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
856 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
858 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
859 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
860 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
861 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from gnus faster.
862 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
863 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
865 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
866 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
867 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
868 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
869 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
870 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
871 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
872 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
873 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
874 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
875 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
876 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
878 @vindex gnus-startup-file
879 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
880 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
881 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
883 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
884 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
885 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
886 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
887 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
888 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
889 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
890 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
891 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
892 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
895 (defun turn-off-backup ()
896 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
898 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
899 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
902 @vindex gnus-init-file
903 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
904 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
905 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
906 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
907 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
908 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
909 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
910 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
911 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
920 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
921 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
922 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
923 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
924 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
927 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
928 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
931 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
932 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
933 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
935 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
936 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
937 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
938 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
939 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
940 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
943 @node The Active File
944 @section The Active File
946 @cindex ignored groups
948 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
949 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
950 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
952 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
953 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
954 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
955 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
956 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
957 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
958 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
961 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
962 @c if you set it to anything else.
964 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
966 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
967 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
968 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
970 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
971 you actually subscribe to.
973 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
974 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
975 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
976 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
978 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
979 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
980 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
981 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
982 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
983 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
985 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
986 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
987 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
988 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
989 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
990 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
992 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
993 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
995 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
996 secondary select methods.
999 @node Startup Variables
1000 @section Startup Variables
1004 @item gnus-load-hook
1005 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1006 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1007 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1008 times you start Gnus.
1010 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1011 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1012 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1014 @item gnus-startup-hook
1015 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1016 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1018 @item gnus-started-hook
1019 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1020 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1023 @item gnus-started-hook
1024 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1025 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1026 generating the group buffer.
1028 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1029 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1030 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1031 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1032 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1033 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1034 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1035 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1037 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1038 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1039 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1040 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1041 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1042 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1044 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1045 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1046 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1048 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1049 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1050 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1052 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1053 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1054 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1055 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1060 @node The Group Buffer
1061 @chapter The Group Buffer
1062 @cindex group buffer
1064 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1065 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1066 long as Gnus is active.
1070 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1071 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1072 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1073 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1074 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1075 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1076 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1077 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1083 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1084 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1085 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1086 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1087 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1088 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1089 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1090 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1091 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1092 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1093 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1094 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1095 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1096 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1097 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1098 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1099 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1103 @node Group Buffer Format
1104 @section Group Buffer Format
1107 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1108 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1109 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1113 @node Group Line Specification
1114 @subsection Group Line Specification
1115 @cindex group buffer format
1117 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1118 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1120 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1123 25: news.announce.newusers
1124 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1129 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1130 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1131 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1132 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1134 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1135 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1136 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1137 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1138 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1139 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1141 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1143 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1144 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1145 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1146 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1149 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1150 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1151 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1153 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1158 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1161 Whether the group is subscribed.
1164 Level of subscribedness.
1167 Number of unread articles.
1170 Number of dormant articles.
1173 Number of ticked articles.
1176 Number of read articles.
1179 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1180 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1183 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1186 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1195 Newsgroup description.
1198 @samp{m} if moderated.
1201 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1210 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1214 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1217 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1218 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1219 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1220 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1221 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1224 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1226 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1230 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1234 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1235 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1236 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1237 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1238 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1239 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1244 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1245 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1246 group, or a bogus native group.
1249 @node Group Modeline Specification
1250 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1251 @cindex group modeline
1253 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1254 The mode line can be changed by setting
1255 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1256 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1260 The native news server.
1262 The native select method.
1266 @node Group Highlighting
1267 @subsection Group Highlighting
1268 @cindex highlighting
1269 @cindex group highlighting
1271 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1272 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1273 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1274 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1275 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1277 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1281 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1282 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1283 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1284 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1285 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1287 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1288 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1289 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1290 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1291 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1292 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1295 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1297 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1304 The number of unread articles in the group.
1308 Whether the group is a mail group.
1310 The level of the group.
1312 The score of the group.
1314 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1316 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1317 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1319 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1320 topic being inserted.
1323 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1324 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1325 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1327 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1328 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1329 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1330 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1331 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1334 @node Group Maneuvering
1335 @section Group Maneuvering
1336 @cindex group movement
1338 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1339 expected, hopefully.
1345 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1346 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1347 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1353 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1354 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1355 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1359 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1360 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1364 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1365 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1369 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1370 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1371 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1375 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1376 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1377 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1380 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1386 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1387 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1388 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1393 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1394 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1395 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1399 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1400 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1401 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1404 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1405 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1406 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1407 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1411 @node Selecting a Group
1412 @section Selecting a Group
1413 @cindex group selection
1418 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1419 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1420 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1421 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1422 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1423 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1424 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1425 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1426 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1427 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1431 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1432 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1433 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1434 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1435 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1439 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1440 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1441 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1442 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1443 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1444 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1445 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1446 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1447 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1448 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1451 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1452 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1453 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1454 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1455 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1458 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1459 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1460 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1461 doing any processing of its contents
1462 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1463 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1464 manner will have no permanent effects.
1468 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1469 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1470 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1471 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1472 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1473 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1474 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1475 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1478 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1479 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1480 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1481 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1486 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1487 full summary buffer.
1490 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1493 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1497 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1498 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1499 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1503 @node Subscription Commands
1504 @section Subscription Commands
1505 @cindex subscription
1513 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1514 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1515 Toggle subscription to the current group
1516 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1522 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1523 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1524 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1525 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1531 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1532 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1533 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1539 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1540 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1543 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1544 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1545 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1546 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1547 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1553 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1554 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1558 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1559 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1562 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1563 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1564 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1565 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1566 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1567 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1568 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1569 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1570 @file{.newsrc} file.
1574 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1584 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1585 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1586 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1587 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1588 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1589 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1594 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1595 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1596 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1600 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1601 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1602 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1604 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1605 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1606 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1607 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1608 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1609 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1616 @section Group Levels
1620 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1621 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1622 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1623 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1624 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1626 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1632 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1633 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1634 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1635 prompted for a level.
1638 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1639 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1640 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1641 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1642 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1643 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1644 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1645 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1646 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1647 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1648 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1649 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1650 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1651 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1652 reasons of efficiency.
1654 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1655 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1657 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1658 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1659 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1661 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1662 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1663 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1664 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1665 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1666 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1667 relevant valid ranges.
1669 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1670 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1671 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1672 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1673 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1674 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1677 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1678 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1679 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1682 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1683 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1684 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1685 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1688 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1689 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1690 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1691 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1693 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1694 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1695 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1696 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1697 to 5. The default is 6.
1701 @section Group Score
1706 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1707 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1708 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1711 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1712 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1713 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1714 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1715 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1716 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1717 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1719 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1720 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1721 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1722 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1723 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1724 action after each summary exit, you can add
1725 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1726 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1727 slow things down somewhat.
1730 @node Marking Groups
1731 @section Marking Groups
1732 @cindex marking groups
1734 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1735 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1736 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1737 bidding on those groups.
1739 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1740 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1741 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1749 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1750 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1756 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1757 Remove the mark from the current group
1758 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1762 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1763 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1767 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1768 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1772 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1773 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1777 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1778 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1779 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1782 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1784 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1785 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1786 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1787 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1788 the command to be executed.
1791 @node Foreign Groups
1792 @section Foreign Groups
1793 @cindex foreign groups
1795 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1796 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1797 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1798 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1805 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1806 @cindex making groups
1807 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1808 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1809 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1813 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1814 @cindex renaming groups
1815 Rename the current group to something else
1816 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1817 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1823 @findex gnus-group-customize
1824 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1828 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1829 @cindex renaming groups
1830 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1831 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1835 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1836 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1837 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1841 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1842 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1843 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1847 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1849 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1850 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1855 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1856 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1860 @cindex (ding) archive
1861 @cindex archive group
1862 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1863 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1864 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1865 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1866 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1867 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1868 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1872 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1874 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1875 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1876 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1877 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1881 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1883 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1884 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1885 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1889 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1890 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1892 Make a group based on some file or other
1893 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1894 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1895 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1896 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1897 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1898 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1899 @xref{Document Groups}.
1903 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1908 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1909 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1910 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1911 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1912 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1913 @xref{Web Searches}.
1916 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1917 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1918 This function will delete the current group
1919 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1920 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1921 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1922 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1923 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1927 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1928 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1933 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1934 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1935 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1938 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1941 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1942 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1943 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1944 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1945 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1948 @node Group Parameters
1949 @section Group Parameters
1950 @cindex group parameters
1952 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1953 Here's an example group parameter list:
1956 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1960 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
1961 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
1962 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
1963 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1965 The following group parameters can be used:
1970 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1973 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
1976 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
1977 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
1978 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
1979 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
1980 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
1982 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1983 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1984 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1985 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1986 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1987 list address instead.
1991 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
1994 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
1997 It is totally ignored
1998 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
1999 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2001 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2002 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group paramater,
2003 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2004 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2005 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2007 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2008 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2009 sending the message.
2013 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2014 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2015 of whether it has any unread articles.
2017 @item broken-reply-to
2018 @cindex broken-reply-to
2019 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2020 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2021 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2022 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2023 broken behavior. So there!
2027 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2028 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2032 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2033 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2034 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2039 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2040 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2041 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2042 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2043 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2044 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2045 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2049 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2050 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2051 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2054 @cindex total-expire
2055 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2056 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2057 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2058 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2063 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2064 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2065 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2066 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2067 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2068 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2071 @cindex score file group parameter
2072 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2073 @file{file} into the current adaptive score file for the group in
2074 question. All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2077 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2078 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2079 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2080 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2083 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2084 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2085 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2086 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2089 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2090 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2094 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2097 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2102 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2103 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2104 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2107 @item @var{(variable form)}
2108 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2109 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2110 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2111 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2112 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2113 @code{eval}ed there.
2115 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2116 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2117 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2118 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2119 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2123 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2124 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2128 @node Listing Groups
2129 @section Listing Groups
2130 @cindex group listing
2132 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2140 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2141 List all groups that have unread articles
2142 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2143 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2144 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2145 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2152 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2153 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2154 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2155 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2156 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2157 unsubscribed groups).
2161 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2162 List all unread groups on a specific level
2163 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2164 with no unread articles.
2168 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2169 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2170 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2171 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2176 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2177 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2181 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2182 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2183 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2187 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2188 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2192 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2193 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2194 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2195 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2196 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2197 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2198 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2199 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2203 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2204 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2205 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2209 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2210 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2211 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2215 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2216 @cindex visible group parameter
2217 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2218 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2219 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2220 get the same effect.
2222 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2223 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2224 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2225 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2226 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2229 @node Sorting Groups
2230 @section Sorting Groups
2231 @cindex sorting groups
2233 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2234 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2235 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2236 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2237 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2238 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2243 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2244 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2245 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2247 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2248 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2249 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2251 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2252 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2253 Sort by group level.
2255 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2256 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2257 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2259 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2260 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2261 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2262 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2264 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2265 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2266 Sort by number of unread articles.
2268 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2269 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2270 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2275 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2276 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2280 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2281 some sorting criteria:
2285 @kindex G S a (Group)
2286 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2287 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2288 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2291 @kindex G S u (Group)
2292 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2293 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2294 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2297 @kindex G S l (Group)
2298 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2299 Sort the group buffer by group level
2300 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2303 @kindex G S v (Group)
2304 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2305 Sort the group buffer by group score
2306 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2309 @kindex G S r (Group)
2310 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2311 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2312 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2315 @kindex G S m (Group)
2316 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2317 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2318 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2322 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2324 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2328 @kindex G P a (Group)
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2330 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2331 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2334 @kindex G P u (Group)
2335 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2336 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2337 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2340 @kindex G P l (Group)
2341 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2342 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2343 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2346 @kindex G P v (Group)
2347 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2348 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2349 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2352 @kindex G P r (Group)
2353 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2354 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2355 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2358 @kindex G P m (Group)
2359 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2360 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2361 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2367 @node Group Maintenance
2368 @section Group Maintenance
2369 @cindex bogus groups
2374 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2375 Find bogus groups and delete them
2376 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2380 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2381 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2382 If given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2386 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2388 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2389 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2392 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2394 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2395 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2400 @node Browse Foreign Server
2401 @section Browse Foreign Server
2402 @cindex foreign servers
2403 @cindex browsing servers
2408 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2409 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2410 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2411 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2414 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2415 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2416 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2417 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2419 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2424 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2425 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2429 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2430 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2433 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2434 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2435 Enter the current group and display the first article
2436 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2439 @kindex RET (Browse)
2440 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2441 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2445 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2446 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2447 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2453 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2454 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2458 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2459 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2460 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2465 @section Exiting Gnus
2466 @cindex exiting Gnus
2468 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2473 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2474 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2475 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2476 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2480 @findex gnus-group-exit
2481 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2482 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2486 @findex gnus-group-quit
2487 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2488 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2491 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2492 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2493 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2494 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2495 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2500 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2501 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2502 trying to customize meta-variables.
2507 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2508 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2509 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2515 @section Group Topics
2518 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2519 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2520 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2521 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2522 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2523 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2527 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2528 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2539 2: alt.religion.emacs
2542 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2544 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2545 13: comp.sources.unix
2548 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2550 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2551 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2552 is a toggling command.)
2554 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2555 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2556 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2557 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2560 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2561 the hook for the group mode:
2564 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2568 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2569 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2570 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2571 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2572 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2576 @node Topic Variables
2577 @subsection Topic Variables
2578 @cindex topic variables
2580 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2581 really neat, I think.
2583 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2584 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2585 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2598 Number of groups in the topic.
2600 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2602 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2605 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2606 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2607 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2610 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2611 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2613 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2614 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2615 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2618 @node Topic Commands
2619 @subsection Topic Commands
2620 @cindex topic commands
2622 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2623 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2624 definitions slightly.
2630 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2631 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2632 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2636 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2637 Move the current group to some other topic
2638 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2639 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2643 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2644 Copy the current group to some other topic
2645 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2646 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2650 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2651 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2652 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2653 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2657 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2658 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2659 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2663 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2664 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2665 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2669 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2670 Toggle hiding empty topics
2671 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2675 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2676 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2677 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2680 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2681 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2682 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2683 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2687 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2689 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2690 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2691 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2692 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2693 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2694 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2697 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2698 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2699 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2700 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2701 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2705 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2706 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2707 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2711 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2712 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2713 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2718 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2719 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2722 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2723 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2724 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2728 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2729 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2730 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2734 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2735 @cindex group parameters
2736 @cindex topic parameters
2738 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2739 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2745 @subsection Topic Sorting
2746 @cindex topic sorting
2748 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2754 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2755 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2756 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2757 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2760 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2761 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2762 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2763 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2766 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2767 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2768 Sort the current topic by group level
2769 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2772 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2773 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2774 Sort the current topic by group score
2775 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2778 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2779 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2780 Sort the current topic by group rank
2781 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2784 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2785 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2786 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2787 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2791 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2794 @node Topic Topology
2795 @subsection Topic Topology
2796 @cindex topic topology
2799 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2805 2: alt.religion.emacs
2808 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2810 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2811 13: comp.sources.unix
2814 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2815 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2816 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2821 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2822 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2826 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2827 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2828 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2829 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2830 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2831 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2833 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2834 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2835 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2838 @node Topic Parameters
2839 @subsection Topic Parameters
2840 @cindex topic parameters
2842 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2843 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2844 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2846 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2847 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2848 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2849 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2855 2: alt.religion.emacs
2859 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2861 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2862 13: comp.sources.unix
2866 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2867 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2868 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2869 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2870 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2871 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2873 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2874 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2875 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2876 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2877 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2879 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2880 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2881 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2882 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2883 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2884 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2885 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2886 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2889 @node Misc Group Stuff
2890 @section Misc Group Stuff
2893 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2894 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2895 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2896 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2903 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2904 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2905 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2909 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2910 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2911 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2915 @findex gnus-group-mail
2916 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2920 Variables for the group buffer:
2924 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2925 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2926 is called after the group buffer has been
2929 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2930 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2931 is called after the group buffer is
2932 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2935 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2936 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2937 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2938 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2940 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2941 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2942 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2943 whether they are empty or not.
2948 @node Scanning New Messages
2949 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2950 @cindex new messages
2951 @cindex scanning new news
2957 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2958 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
2959 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2960 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2961 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2962 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
2967 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2968 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2969 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
2970 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2971 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2972 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2973 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2975 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2976 @cindex activating groups
2978 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2979 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2984 @findex gnus-group-restart
2985 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2986 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2987 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2991 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2992 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2994 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2995 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2999 @node Group Information
3000 @subsection Group Information
3001 @cindex group information
3002 @cindex information on groups
3009 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3010 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3013 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3014 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3015 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3016 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3017 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3018 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3019 for fetching the file.
3021 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3022 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3026 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3028 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3029 @cindex describing groups
3030 @cindex group description
3031 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3032 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3033 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3037 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3038 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3039 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3046 @findex gnus-version
3047 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3051 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3052 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3055 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3058 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3059 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3063 @node Group Timestamp
3064 @subsection Group Timestamp
3066 @cindex group timestamps
3068 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3069 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3070 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3073 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3076 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3078 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3079 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3082 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3083 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3086 This will result in lines looking like:
3089 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3090 0: custom 19961002T012713
3093 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3094 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3098 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3099 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3104 @subsection File Commands
3105 @cindex file commands
3111 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3112 @vindex gnus-init-file
3113 @cindex reading init file
3114 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3115 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3119 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3120 @cindex saving .newsrc
3121 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3122 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3123 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3126 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3127 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3128 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3133 @node The Summary Buffer
3134 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3135 @cindex summary buffer
3137 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3138 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3140 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3141 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3143 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3146 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3147 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3148 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3149 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3150 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3151 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3152 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3153 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3154 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3155 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3156 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3157 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3158 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3159 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3160 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3161 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3162 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3163 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3164 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3165 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3166 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3167 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3168 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3169 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3170 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3171 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3172 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3176 @node Summary Buffer Format
3177 @section Summary Buffer Format
3178 @cindex summary buffer format
3182 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3183 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3184 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3190 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3191 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3192 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3195 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3196 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3197 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3198 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3199 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3200 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3201 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3202 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3203 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3204 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3205 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3207 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3208 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3209 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3210 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3213 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3214 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3216 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3217 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3218 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3219 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3220 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3222 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3224 The following format specification characters are understood:
3232 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3233 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3234 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3236 Full @code{From} header.
3238 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3240 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3241 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3242 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3243 may be more thorough.
3245 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3248 Number of lines in the article.
3250 Number of characters in the article.
3252 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3254 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3255 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3257 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3258 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3260 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3261 for adopted articles.
3263 One space for each thread level.
3265 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3271 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3273 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3274 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3275 default level. If the difference between
3276 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3277 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3285 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3287 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3293 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3294 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3296 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3297 article has any children.
3303 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3304 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3305 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3306 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3307 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3308 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3311 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3312 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3313 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3314 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3315 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3316 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3318 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3319 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3321 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3324 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3325 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3327 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3328 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3329 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3330 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3332 Here are the elements you can play with:
3338 Unprefixed group name.
3340 Current article number.
3344 Number of unread articles in this group.
3346 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3349 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3350 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3351 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3352 and no unselected ones.
3354 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3355 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3357 Subject of the current article.
3359 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3361 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3363 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3365 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3367 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3369 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3373 @node Summary Highlighting
3374 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3378 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3379 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3380 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3381 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3382 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3384 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3385 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3386 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3387 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3389 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3390 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3391 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3392 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3394 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3395 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3396 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3397 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3398 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3399 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3401 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3402 ((> score default) . bold))
3404 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3405 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3409 @node Summary Maneuvering
3410 @section Summary Maneuvering
3411 @cindex summary movement
3413 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3414 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3416 None of these commands select articles.
3421 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3422 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3423 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3424 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3425 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3429 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3430 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3431 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3432 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3433 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3438 @kindex G j (Summary)
3439 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3440 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3441 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3444 @kindex G g (Summary)
3445 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3446 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3447 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3450 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3451 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3452 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3453 to the group buffer.
3455 Variables related to summary movement:
3459 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3460 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3461 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3462 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3463 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3464 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3465 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3466 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3467 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3468 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3469 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3470 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3471 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3472 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3474 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3475 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3476 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3477 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3478 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3479 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3480 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3482 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3483 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3484 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3485 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3486 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3488 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3489 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3490 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3491 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3492 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3493 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3494 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3495 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3501 @node Choosing Articles
3502 @section Choosing Articles
3503 @cindex selecting articles
3506 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3507 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3511 @node Choosing Commands
3512 @subsection Choosing Commands
3514 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3515 and they all select and display an article.
3519 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3520 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3521 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3522 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3527 @kindex G n (Summary)
3528 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3529 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3530 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3535 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3536 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3537 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3542 @kindex G N (Summary)
3543 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3544 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3549 @kindex G P (Summary)
3550 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3551 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3554 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3555 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3556 Go to the next article with the same subject
3557 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3560 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3561 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3562 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3563 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3567 @kindex G f (Summary)
3569 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3570 Go to the first unread article
3571 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3575 @kindex G b (Summary)
3577 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3578 Go to the article with the highest score
3579 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3584 @kindex G l (Summary)
3585 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3586 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3589 @kindex G o (Summary)
3590 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3592 @cindex article history
3593 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3594 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3595 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3596 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3597 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3598 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3602 @node Choosing Variables
3603 @subsection Choosing Variables
3605 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3608 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3609 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3610 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3611 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3612 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3613 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3615 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3616 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3617 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3618 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3620 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3621 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3622 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3623 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3624 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3625 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3626 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3627 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3628 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3629 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3630 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3631 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3632 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3633 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3638 @node Paging the Article
3639 @section Scrolling the Article
3640 @cindex article scrolling
3645 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3646 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3647 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3648 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3649 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3652 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3653 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3654 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3657 @kindex RET (Summary)
3658 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3659 Scroll the current article one line forward
3660 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3664 @kindex A g (Summary)
3666 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3667 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3668 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3669 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3670 the way it came from the server.
3675 @kindex A < (Summary)
3676 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3677 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3678 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3683 @kindex A > (Summary)
3684 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3685 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3689 @kindex A s (Summary)
3691 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3692 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3693 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3697 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3698 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3703 @node Reply Followup and Post
3704 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3707 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3708 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3712 @node Summary Mail Commands
3713 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3715 @cindex composing mail
3717 Commands for composing a mail message:
3723 @kindex S r (Summary)
3725 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3726 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3727 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3728 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3729 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3734 @kindex S R (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3736 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3737 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3738 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3739 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3742 @kindex S w (Summary)
3743 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3744 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3745 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3746 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3747 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3750 @kindex S W (Summary)
3751 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3752 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3753 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3754 the process/prefix convention.
3757 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3758 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3759 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3760 Forward the current article to some other person
3761 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3762 headers of the forwarded article.
3767 @kindex S m (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3770 Send a mail to some other person
3771 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3774 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3775 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3776 @cindex bouncing mail
3777 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3778 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3779 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3780 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3781 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3782 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3783 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3784 very well fail, though.
3787 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3788 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3789 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3790 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3791 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3792 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3793 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3794 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3795 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3796 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3798 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3799 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3800 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3801 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3802 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3804 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3805 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3808 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3809 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3810 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3811 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3812 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3815 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3816 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3817 @cindex crossposting
3818 @cindex excessive crossposting
3819 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3820 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3822 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3823 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3824 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3825 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3826 command understands the process/prefix convention
3827 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3832 @node Summary Post Commands
3833 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3835 @cindex composing news
3837 Commands for posting a news article:
3843 @kindex S p (Summary)
3844 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3845 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3846 Post an article to the current group
3847 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3852 @kindex S f (Summary)
3853 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3854 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3855 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3859 @kindex S F (Summary)
3861 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3862 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3863 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3864 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3865 process/prefix convention.
3868 @kindex S n (Summary)
3869 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3870 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3871 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3874 @kindex S n (Summary)
3875 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3876 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3877 message through mail and include the original message
3878 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3879 the process/prefix convention.
3882 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3883 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3884 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3885 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3886 headers of the forwarded article.
3889 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3890 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3892 @cindex making digests
3893 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3894 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3895 process/prefix convention.
3898 @kindex S u (Summary)
3899 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3900 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3901 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3902 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3906 @node Canceling and Superseding
3907 @section Canceling Articles
3908 @cindex canceling articles
3909 @cindex superseding articles
3911 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3912 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3914 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3916 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3918 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3919 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3920 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3921 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3922 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3923 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3925 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3926 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3929 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when cancelling. If you
3930 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
3931 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
3933 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3934 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3935 your original article.
3937 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3939 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3940 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3941 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3944 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3945 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3946 have posted almost the same article twice.
3948 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3949 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3950 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3951 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3952 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3953 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3954 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3955 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3956 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3957 canceled/superseded.
3959 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3962 @node Marking Articles
3963 @section Marking Articles
3964 @cindex article marking
3965 @cindex article ticking
3968 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3970 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3971 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3972 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3974 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3977 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3978 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3979 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3983 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3987 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3988 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3992 @node Unread Articles
3993 @subsection Unread Articles
3995 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4000 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4001 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4003 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4004 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4005 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4006 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4007 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4011 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4012 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4014 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4015 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4016 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4019 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4020 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4022 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4027 @subsection Read Articles
4028 @cindex expirable mark
4030 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4035 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4036 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4037 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4040 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4041 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4044 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4045 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4046 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4049 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4050 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4053 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4054 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4057 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4058 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4061 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4062 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4065 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4066 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4069 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4070 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4073 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4074 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4078 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4079 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4080 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4084 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4085 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4087 One more special mark, though:
4091 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4092 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4094 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4095 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4096 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4097 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4103 @subsection Other Marks
4104 @cindex process mark
4107 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4113 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4114 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4115 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4116 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4117 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4120 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4121 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4122 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4123 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4126 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4127 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4128 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4131 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4132 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4133 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4134 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4137 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4138 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4139 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4140 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4141 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4144 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4145 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4146 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4147 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4148 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4149 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4153 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4154 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4155 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4157 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4158 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4159 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4163 @subsection Setting Marks
4164 @cindex setting marks
4166 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4171 @kindex M c (Summary)
4172 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4173 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4174 @cindex mark as unread
4175 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4176 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4182 @kindex M t (Summary)
4183 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4184 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4185 @xref{Article Caching}
4190 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4191 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4192 Mark the current article as dormant
4193 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4197 @kindex M d (Summary)
4199 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4200 Mark the current article as read
4201 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4205 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4206 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4207 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4212 @kindex M k (Summary)
4213 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4214 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4215 and then select the next unread article
4216 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4220 @kindex M K (Summary)
4221 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4222 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4223 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4224 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4227 @kindex M C (Summary)
4228 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4229 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4230 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4233 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4234 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4235 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4236 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4239 @kindex M H (Summary)
4240 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4241 Catchup the current group to point
4242 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4245 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4246 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4247 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4248 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4251 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4252 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4253 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4254 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4258 @kindex M e (Summary)
4260 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4261 Mark the current article as expirable
4262 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4265 @kindex M b (Summary)
4266 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4267 Set a bookmark in the current article
4268 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4271 @kindex M B (Summary)
4272 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4273 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4274 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4277 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4278 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4279 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4280 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4283 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4284 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4285 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4286 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4289 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4290 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4291 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4292 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4293 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4296 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4297 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4298 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4299 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4300 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4301 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4302 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4303 The default is @code{t}.
4306 @node Setting Process Marks
4307 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4308 @cindex setting process marks
4315 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4316 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4317 Mark the current article with the process mark
4318 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4319 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4323 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4324 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4325 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4326 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4329 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4330 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4331 Remove the process mark from all articles
4332 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4335 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4336 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4337 Invert the list of process marked articles
4338 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4341 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4342 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4343 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4346 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4347 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4348 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4351 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4352 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4353 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4354 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4357 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4358 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4359 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4360 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4363 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4364 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4365 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4366 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4369 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4370 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4371 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4374 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4375 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4376 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4377 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4380 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4381 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4382 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4385 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4386 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4387 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4388 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4391 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4393 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4394 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4397 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4398 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4399 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4400 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4403 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4405 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4406 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4415 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4416 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4417 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4420 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4421 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4422 additional articles.
4428 @kindex / / (Summary)
4429 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4430 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4431 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4434 @kindex / a (Summary)
4435 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4436 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4437 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4441 @kindex / u (Summary)
4443 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4444 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4445 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4446 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4447 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4450 @kindex / m (Summary)
4451 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4452 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4453 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4456 @kindex / t (Summary)
4457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4458 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4460 articles younger than that number of days.
4463 @kindex / n (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4465 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4466 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4467 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4470 @kindex / w (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4472 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4473 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4477 @kindex / v (Summary)
4478 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4479 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4480 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4484 @kindex M S (Summary)
4485 @kindex / E (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4487 Display all expunged articles
4488 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4491 @kindex / D (Summary)
4492 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4493 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4496 @kindex / * (Summary)
4497 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4498 Display all cached articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4501 @kindex / d (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4503 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4506 @kindex / T (Summary)
4507 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4508 Include all the articles in the current thread.
4511 @kindex / c (Summary)
4512 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4513 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4514 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4517 @kindex / C (Summary)
4518 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4519 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4520 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4521 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4529 @cindex article threading
4531 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4532 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4533 hierarchical fashion.
4535 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4536 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4537 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4538 or simply missing. Weird news propagration excarcerbates the problem,
4539 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4540 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4541 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4543 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4547 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4550 A tree-like article structure.
4553 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4556 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4557 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4558 summary buffer. We then typicall have many sub-threads that really
4559 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4560 called loose threads.
4562 @item thread gathering
4563 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4565 @item sparse threads
4566 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4567 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4573 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4574 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4578 @node Customizing Threading
4579 @subsection Customizing Threading
4580 @cindex customizing threading
4583 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4584 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4585 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4586 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4591 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4594 @cindex loose threads
4597 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4598 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4599 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4600 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4601 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4602 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4604 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4605 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4606 There are four possible values:
4610 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4611 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4612 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4613 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4614 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4619 @cindex adopting articles
4624 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4625 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4626 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4627 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4630 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4631 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4632 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4633 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4634 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4635 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4636 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4639 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4640 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4641 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4645 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4646 display them after one another.
4649 Don't gather loose threads.
4652 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4653 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4654 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4655 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4656 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4657 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4658 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4659 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4660 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4661 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4662 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4664 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4665 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4666 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4669 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4670 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4671 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4672 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4673 simplification is used.
4675 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4676 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4677 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4678 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4680 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4682 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4688 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4689 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4690 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4691 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4696 (mapconcat 'identity
4697 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4699 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4702 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4705 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4706 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4707 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4708 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4709 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4710 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4712 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4715 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4716 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4717 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4719 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4720 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4723 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4724 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4725 Remove excessive whitespace.
4728 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4731 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4732 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4733 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4734 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4735 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4736 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4737 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4738 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4740 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4741 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4742 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4743 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4744 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4745 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4746 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4747 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4748 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4752 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4753 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4754 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4755 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4757 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4758 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4759 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4762 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4766 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4767 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4773 @node Filling In Threads
4774 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4777 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4778 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4779 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4780 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4781 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4782 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4783 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4784 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4785 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4786 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4787 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4788 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4790 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4791 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4792 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4794 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4795 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4796 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4797 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4798 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4799 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4800 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4801 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4802 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4803 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4804 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4805 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4806 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4807 @code{nil} by default.
4812 @node More Threading
4813 @subsubsection More Threading
4816 @item gnus-show-threads
4817 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4818 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4819 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4820 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4821 slower and more awkward.
4823 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4824 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4825 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4828 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4829 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4830 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4831 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4832 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4833 threads are expunged.
4835 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4836 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4837 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4840 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4841 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4842 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4843 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4844 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4847 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4848 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4849 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4855 @node Low-Level Threading
4856 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4860 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4861 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4862 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4863 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4864 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4865 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4867 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4868 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4869 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4870 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4871 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4872 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4873 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4874 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4875 meaningful. Here's one example:
4878 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4880 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4881 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4883 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4885 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4892 @node Thread Commands
4893 @subsection Thread Commands
4894 @cindex thread commands
4900 @kindex T k (Summary)
4901 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4902 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4903 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4904 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4905 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4910 @kindex T l (Summary)
4911 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4912 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4913 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4914 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4917 @kindex T i (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4919 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4920 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4923 @kindex T # (Summary)
4924 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4925 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4926 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4929 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4930 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4931 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4932 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4935 @kindex T T (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4937 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4940 @kindex T s (Summary)
4941 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4942 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4943 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4946 @kindex T h (Summary)
4947 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4948 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4951 @kindex T S (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4953 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4956 @kindex T H (Summary)
4957 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4958 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4961 @kindex T t (Summary)
4962 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4963 Re-thread the current article's thread
4964 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4965 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4968 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4969 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4970 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4971 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
4975 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4976 understand the numeric prefix.
4981 @kindex T n (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4983 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4986 @kindex T p (Summary)
4987 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4988 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4991 @kindex T d (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4993 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4996 @kindex T u (Summary)
4997 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4998 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5001 @kindex T o (Summary)
5002 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5003 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5006 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5007 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5008 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5009 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5010 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5011 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5012 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5013 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5014 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5015 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5016 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5017 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5024 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5025 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5026 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5027 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5028 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5029 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5030 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5031 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5032 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5033 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5034 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5035 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5036 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5037 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5039 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5040 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5041 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5042 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5043 in the list. You should probably always include
5044 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5045 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5046 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5047 ascending article order.
5049 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5050 number, you could do something like:
5053 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5054 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5055 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5056 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5059 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5060 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5061 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5062 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5063 which the articles arrived.
5065 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5069 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5071 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5072 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5075 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5076 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5077 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5078 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5081 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5082 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5083 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5084 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5085 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5086 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5087 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5088 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5089 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5090 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5091 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5092 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5093 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5095 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5099 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5100 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5101 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5106 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5107 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5108 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5109 @cindex article pre-fetch
5112 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5113 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5114 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5115 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5116 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5118 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5119 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5121 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5122 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5123 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5124 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5125 connection is blocked.
5127 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5128 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5129 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5130 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5132 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5133 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5134 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5135 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5138 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5141 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5142 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5143 happen automatically.
5145 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5146 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5147 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5148 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5149 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5150 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5151 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5153 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5154 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5155 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5156 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5157 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5158 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5159 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5160 data structure as the only parameter.
5162 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5165 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5166 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5167 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5168 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5171 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5174 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5175 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5176 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5178 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5179 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5180 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5181 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5185 Remove articles when they are read.
5188 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5191 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5193 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5194 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5195 from the next group.
5198 @node Article Caching
5199 @section Article Caching
5200 @cindex article caching
5203 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5204 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5205 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5206 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5207 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5209 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5211 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5212 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5213 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5214 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5215 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5216 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5217 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5218 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5220 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5221 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5222 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5223 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5224 as dormant, and don't worry.
5226 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5228 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5229 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5230 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5231 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5232 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5233 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5234 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5235 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5236 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5237 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5239 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5240 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5241 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5242 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5243 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5244 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5245 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5246 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5247 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5248 not then be downloaded by this command.
5250 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5251 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
5252 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5253 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5254 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
5255 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
5256 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
5259 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5260 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5261 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5262 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5263 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5264 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5265 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5266 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5267 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5271 @node Persistent Articles
5272 @section Persistent Articles
5273 @cindex persistent articles
5275 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5276 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5277 useful in my opinion.
5279 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5280 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5281 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5282 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5283 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5284 the expiry going on at the news server.
5286 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5287 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5288 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5294 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5295 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5298 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5299 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5300 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5301 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5305 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5307 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5308 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5309 interested in persistent articles:
5312 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5316 @node Article Backlog
5317 @section Article Backlog
5319 @cindex article backlog
5321 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5322 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5323 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5324 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5325 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5326 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5327 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5328 increase memory usage some.
5330 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5331 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5332 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5333 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5334 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5335 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5336 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5338 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5341 @node Saving Articles
5342 @section Saving Articles
5343 @cindex saving articles
5345 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5346 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5347 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5348 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5349 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5351 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5352 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5353 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5355 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5356 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5357 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5358 deleted before saving.
5364 @kindex O o (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5367 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5368 Save the current article using the default article saver
5369 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5372 @kindex O m (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5374 Save the current article in mail format
5375 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5378 @kindex O r (Summary)
5379 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5380 Save the current article in rmail format
5381 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5384 @kindex O f (Summary)
5385 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5386 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5387 Save the current article in plain file format
5388 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5391 @kindex O F (Summary)
5392 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5393 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5394 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5397 @kindex O b (Summary)
5398 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5399 Save the current article body in plain file format
5400 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5403 @kindex O h (Summary)
5404 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5405 Save the current article in mh folder format
5406 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5409 @kindex O v (Summary)
5410 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5411 Save the current article in a VM folder
5412 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5415 @kindex O p (Summary)
5416 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5417 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5418 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5421 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5422 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5423 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5424 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5425 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5426 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5427 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5428 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5429 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5430 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5431 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5432 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5436 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5437 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5438 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5439 functions below, or you can create your own.
5443 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5444 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5445 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5446 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5447 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5448 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5449 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5451 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5452 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5453 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5454 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5455 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5456 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5458 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5459 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5460 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5461 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5462 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5463 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5464 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5466 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5467 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5468 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5469 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5470 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5472 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5473 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5474 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5475 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5476 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5479 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5480 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5481 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5482 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5483 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5485 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5486 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5487 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5488 reader to use this setting.
5491 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5492 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5493 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5494 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5497 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5498 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5499 available functions that generate names:
5503 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5504 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5505 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5507 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5508 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5509 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5511 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5512 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5513 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5515 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5516 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5517 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5520 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5521 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5522 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5523 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5524 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5528 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5529 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5530 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5531 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5534 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5535 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5536 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5537 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5538 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5539 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5540 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5541 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5542 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5544 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5545 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5546 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5547 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5549 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5550 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5551 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5554 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5555 lots of mail groups called things like
5556 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5557 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5558 following will do just that:
5561 (defun my-save-name (group)
5562 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5563 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5565 (setq gnus-split-methods
5566 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5571 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5572 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5573 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5574 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5575 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5576 all the files in the toplevel directory
5577 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5578 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5579 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5580 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5582 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5583 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5584 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5585 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5586 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5589 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5593 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5594 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5597 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5598 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5599 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5600 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5603 @node Decoding Articles
5604 @section Decoding Articles
5605 @cindex decoding articles
5607 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5608 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5611 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5612 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5613 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5614 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5615 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5616 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5620 @cindex article series
5621 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5622 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5623 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5624 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5625 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5627 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5628 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5629 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5631 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5632 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5633 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5635 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5636 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5637 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5640 @node Uuencoded Articles
5641 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5643 @cindex uuencoded articles
5648 @kindex X u (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5650 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5651 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5654 @kindex X U (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5656 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5657 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5660 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5661 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5662 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5665 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5666 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5667 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5668 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5672 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5673 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5674 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5675 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5676 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5678 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5679 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5680 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5681 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5684 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5685 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5686 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5687 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5688 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5689 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5693 @node Shell Archives
5694 @subsection Shell Archives
5696 @cindex shell archives
5697 @cindex shared articles
5699 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5700 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5701 some commands to deal with these:
5706 @kindex X s (Summary)
5707 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5708 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5711 @kindex X S (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5713 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5716 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5717 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5718 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5721 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5722 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5723 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5724 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5728 @node PostScript Files
5729 @subsection PostScript Files
5735 @kindex X p (Summary)
5736 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5737 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5740 @kindex X P (Summary)
5741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5742 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5743 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5746 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5747 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5748 View the current PostScript series
5749 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5752 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5753 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5754 View and save the current PostScript series
5755 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5760 @subsection Other Files
5764 @kindex X o (Summary)
5765 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5766 Save the current series
5767 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5770 @kindex X b (Summary)
5771 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5772 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5773 doesn't really work yet.
5777 @node Decoding Variables
5778 @subsection Decoding Variables
5780 Adjective, not verb.
5783 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5784 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5785 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5789 @node Rule Variables
5790 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5791 @cindex rule variables
5793 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5794 variables are of the form
5797 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5804 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5805 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5807 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5808 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5811 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5812 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5815 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5816 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5817 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5818 user and default view rules.
5820 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5821 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5822 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5827 @node Other Decode Variables
5828 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5831 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5833 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5834 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5835 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5836 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5837 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5841 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5842 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5845 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5846 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5847 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5850 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5851 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5852 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5853 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5854 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5857 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5858 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5859 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5861 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5862 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5863 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5864 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5865 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5868 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5869 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5870 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5872 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5873 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5874 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5875 looking for files to display.
5877 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5878 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5879 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5882 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5883 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5884 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5887 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5888 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5889 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5892 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5893 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5894 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5897 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5898 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5899 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5900 decoded articles as unread.
5902 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5903 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5904 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5905 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5907 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5908 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5909 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5911 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5912 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5914 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5915 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5916 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5917 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5919 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5920 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5921 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5922 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5923 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5924 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5925 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5926 simply dropped them.
5931 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5932 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5936 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5937 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5938 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5939 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5940 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5941 for you when you post the article.
5943 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5944 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5945 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5946 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5948 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5949 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5950 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5951 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
5952 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5953 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5954 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5956 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5957 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5958 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5959 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5960 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5961 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5962 Default is @code{t}.
5968 @subsection Viewing Files
5969 @cindex viewing files
5970 @cindex pseudo-articles
5972 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5973 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5974 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5975 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5976 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5977 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5978 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5980 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5981 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5982 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5983 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5985 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5986 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5987 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5989 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5990 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5991 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5992 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5993 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5995 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5996 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5997 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5998 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5999 a list of parameters to that command.
6001 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6002 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6003 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6005 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6006 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6007 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6010 @node Article Treatment
6011 @section Article Treatment
6013 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6014 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6015 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6016 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6017 these articles easier.
6020 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6021 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look niced.
6022 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6023 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6024 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6025 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6026 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6030 @node Article Highlighting
6031 @subsection Article Highlighting
6034 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6035 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6040 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6042 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
6045 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6046 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6047 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6048 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6049 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6050 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6051 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6052 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6053 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6054 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6055 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6058 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6060 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6062 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6065 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6067 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6068 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6069 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6071 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6072 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6073 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6075 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6076 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6077 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6079 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6080 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6081 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6082 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6083 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6084 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6086 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6087 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6088 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6090 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6091 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6092 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6094 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6095 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6096 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6097 that it's a citation.
6099 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6100 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6101 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6103 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6104 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6105 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6107 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6108 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6109 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6110 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6116 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6117 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6118 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6119 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6120 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6121 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6122 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6123 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6129 @node Article Fontisizing
6130 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6132 @cindex article emphasis
6134 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6135 @kindex W e (Summary)
6136 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6137 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6138 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6139 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6141 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
6142 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6143 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
6144 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6145 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6146 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6147 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6148 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6152 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6153 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6154 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6157 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6158 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6159 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6160 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6161 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6162 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6163 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6164 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6165 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6166 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6167 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6168 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6169 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6171 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6172 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6173 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6177 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6181 @node Article Hiding
6182 @subsection Article Hiding
6183 @cindex article hiding
6185 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6186 too much cruft in most articles.
6191 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-article-hide
6193 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
6196 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6197 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6198 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6202 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6203 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6204 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6205 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6208 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6209 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6210 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6214 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6216 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6217 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6218 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6219 signature has been hidden.
6222 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6224 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6225 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6228 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6230 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6231 customizing the hiding:
6235 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6236 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6237 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6238 50), hide the cited text.
6240 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6241 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6242 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6245 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6246 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6247 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6248 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6249 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6254 Start point of the hidden text.
6256 End point of the hidden text.
6258 Length of the hidden text.
6261 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6262 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6263 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6268 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6270 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6271 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6272 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6273 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6277 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6278 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6279 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6281 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6282 citation customization.
6285 @node Article Washing
6286 @subsection Article Washing
6288 @cindex article washing
6290 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6291 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6293 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6294 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6300 @kindex W l (Summary)
6301 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6302 Remove page breaks from the current article
6303 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
6306 @kindex W r (Summary)
6307 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6308 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6309 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6310 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6311 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6312 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6314 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6315 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6316 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6317 is rumoured to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6320 @kindex W t (Summary)
6321 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6322 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6323 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6326 @kindex W v (Summary)
6327 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6328 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6329 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6332 @kindex W m (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6334 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6338 @kindex W o (Summary)
6339 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6340 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6343 @kindex W d (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6345 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6348 @kindex W w (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6350 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6351 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6352 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6354 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6358 @kindex W c (Summary)
6359 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6360 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6361 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6364 @kindex W q (Summary)
6365 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6366 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6367 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6368 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6369 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6373 @kindex W f (Summary)
6375 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6376 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6377 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6378 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6384 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6385 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6386 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6387 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6388 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6389 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6390 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6391 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6392 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6393 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6394 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6395 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6396 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6397 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6401 @kindex W b (Summary)
6402 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6403 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6404 @xref{Article Buttons}
6407 @kindex W B (Summary)
6408 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6409 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6410 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6413 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6414 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6415 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6416 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6419 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6420 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6421 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6422 lines with a single empty line.
6423 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6426 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6427 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6428 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6429 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6432 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6434 Do all the three commands above
6435 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6438 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6439 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6440 Remove all blank lines
6441 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6444 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6445 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6446 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6447 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6452 @node Article Buttons
6453 @subsection Article Buttons
6456 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6457 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6458 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6459 button on these references.
6461 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6462 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6463 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6468 @item gnus-button-alist
6469 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6470 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6473 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6479 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6480 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6481 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6484 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6485 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6486 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6489 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6490 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6491 avoid false matches.
6494 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6497 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6498 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6502 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6505 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6508 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6509 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6510 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6511 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6512 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6515 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6518 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6520 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6521 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6522 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6523 default values of the variables above.
6525 @item gnus-article-button-face
6526 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6527 Face used on buttons.
6529 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6530 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6531 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6537 @subsection Article Date
6539 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6540 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6541 when the article was sent.
6546 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6547 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6548 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6549 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6552 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6553 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6555 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6556 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6559 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6560 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6561 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6564 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6565 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6566 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6567 @findex format-time-string
6568 Display the date using a user-defined format
6569 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6570 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6571 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6572 for a list of possible format specs.
6575 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6576 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6577 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6578 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6579 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6580 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6581 updated continually, you can put
6584 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6587 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6588 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6592 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6593 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6594 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6595 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6596 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6597 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6598 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6603 @node Article Signature
6604 @subsection Article Signature
6606 @cindex article signature
6608 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6609 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6610 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6611 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6612 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6613 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6614 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6615 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6616 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6619 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6620 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6621 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6622 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6623 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6624 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6625 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6626 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6629 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6632 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6633 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6638 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6641 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6644 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6645 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6647 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6648 in question is not a signature.
6651 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6652 listed above. Here's an example:
6655 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6656 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6659 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6660 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6661 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6662 signature after all.
6665 @node Article Commands
6666 @section Article Commands
6673 @kindex A P (Summary)
6674 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6675 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6676 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6677 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6678 run just before printing the buffer.
6683 @node Summary Sorting
6684 @section Summary Sorting
6685 @cindex summary sorting
6687 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6688 can't really see why you'd want that.
6693 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6694 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6695 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6698 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6700 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6703 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6704 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6705 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6708 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6710 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6713 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6715 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6718 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6719 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6720 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6723 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6724 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6725 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6726 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6727 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6731 @node Finding the Parent
6732 @section Finding the Parent
6733 @cindex parent articles
6734 @cindex referring articles
6739 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6740 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6741 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6742 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6743 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6744 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6745 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6746 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6747 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6749 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6750 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6751 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6752 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6753 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6757 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6758 @kindex A R (Summary)
6759 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6760 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6763 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6764 @kindex A T (Summary)
6765 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6766 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6767 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6768 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6769 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6770 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6771 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6773 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6774 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6775 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6776 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6777 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6778 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6781 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6782 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6784 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6785 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6786 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6787 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6788 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6789 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6790 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6793 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6794 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6795 by giving this command a prefix.
6797 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6798 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6799 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6800 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6801 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6802 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6805 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6806 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6807 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6808 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6809 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6810 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6813 @node Alternative Approaches
6814 @section Alternative Approaches
6816 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6817 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6820 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6821 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6826 @subsection Pick and Read
6827 @cindex pick and read
6829 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6830 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6831 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6832 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6834 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6835 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6836 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6837 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6838 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6839 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6841 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6846 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6847 Pick the article on the current line
6848 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6849 go to that article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
6850 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6853 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6854 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6855 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6856 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6860 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6861 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6865 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6866 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6870 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6871 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6875 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6876 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6880 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6881 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6885 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6886 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6890 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6891 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6895 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6896 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6900 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6901 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6905 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6906 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6910 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6911 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6912 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6913 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6914 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6915 will still be visible when you are reading.
6919 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6922 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6925 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6926 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6928 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6929 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6930 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6932 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6933 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
6934 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6935 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6936 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6937 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6938 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6942 @subsection Binary Groups
6943 @cindex binary groups
6945 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6946 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6947 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6948 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6949 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6950 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6951 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6954 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6955 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
6956 command, when you have turned on this mode
6957 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6959 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6960 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6964 @section Tree Display
6967 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6968 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6969 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6970 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6973 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6976 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6977 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6978 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6980 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6981 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6982 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6983 is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list of valid specs, @pxref{Summary
6986 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6987 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6988 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6989 default is @code{modeline}.
6991 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6992 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6993 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6994 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6995 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6996 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6997 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7003 The name of the poster.
7005 The @code{From} header.
7007 The number of the article.
7009 The opening bracket.
7011 The closing bracket.
7016 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7018 Variables related to the display are:
7021 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7022 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7023 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7024 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7025 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7026 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7028 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7029 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7030 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7031 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7035 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7036 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7037 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7038 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7039 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7040 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7041 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7042 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7043 other windows displayed next to it.
7045 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7046 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7047 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7048 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7049 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7050 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7051 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7055 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7058 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7068 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7072 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7073 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7075 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7077 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7082 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7083 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7084 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7087 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7088 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7089 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7090 (gnus-add-configuration
7094 (summary 0.75 point)
7099 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7102 @node Mail Group Commands
7103 @section Mail Group Commands
7104 @cindex mail group commands
7106 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7107 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7109 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7110 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7115 @kindex B e (Summary)
7116 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7117 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7118 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7121 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7122 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7123 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7124 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7125 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7126 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7129 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7130 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7131 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7132 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7133 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7134 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7137 @kindex B m (Summary)
7139 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7140 Move the article from one mail group to another
7141 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7144 @kindex B c (Summary)
7146 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7147 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7148 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7149 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7152 @kindex B B (Summary)
7153 @cindex crosspost mail
7154 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7155 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7156 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7157 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7158 be properly updated.
7161 @kindex B i (Summary)
7162 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7163 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7164 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7165 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7168 @kindex B r (Summary)
7169 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7170 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7171 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7172 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7173 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7177 @kindex B w (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7180 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7181 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7182 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7183 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7184 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7187 @kindex B q (Summary)
7188 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7189 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7190 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7191 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7194 @kindex B p (Summary)
7195 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7196 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7197 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7198 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7199 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7200 article from your news server (or rather, from
7201 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7202 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7203 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7204 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7205 just not have arrived yet.
7209 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7210 @cindex moving articles
7211 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7212 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7213 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7214 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7215 suggestions you find reasonable.
7218 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7219 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7220 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7221 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7225 @node Various Summary Stuff
7226 @section Various Summary Stuff
7229 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7230 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7231 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7232 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7236 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7237 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7238 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7240 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7241 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7242 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7243 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7244 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7245 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7248 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7249 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7250 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7251 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7252 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7254 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7255 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7256 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7257 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7258 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7259 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7260 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7261 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7262 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7263 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7268 @node Summary Group Information
7269 @subsection Summary Group Information
7274 @kindex H f (Summary)
7275 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7276 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7277 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7278 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7279 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7280 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7281 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7282 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7283 be used for fetching the file.
7286 @kindex H d (Summary)
7287 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7288 Give a brief description of the current group
7289 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7290 rereading the description from the server.
7293 @kindex H h (Summary)
7294 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7295 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7296 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7299 @kindex H i (Summary)
7300 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7301 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7305 @node Searching for Articles
7306 @subsection Searching for Articles
7311 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7313 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7314 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7317 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7319 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7320 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7324 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7325 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7326 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7327 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7331 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7332 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7333 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7334 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7337 @node Summary Generation Commands
7338 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7343 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7344 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7345 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7348 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7350 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7351 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7356 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7357 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7362 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7364 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7365 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7366 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7367 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7368 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7369 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7370 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7374 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7375 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7376 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7377 several documents into one biiig group
7378 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7379 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7380 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7381 command understands the process/prefix convention
7382 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7385 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7386 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7387 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7388 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7389 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7390 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7394 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7395 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7396 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7399 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7401 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7402 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7407 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7408 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7409 @cindex summary exit
7410 @cindex exiting groups
7412 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7413 group and return you to the group buffer.
7419 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7421 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7422 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7423 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7424 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7425 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7426 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7427 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7428 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7429 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7430 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7431 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7435 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7437 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7438 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7439 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7443 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7445 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7446 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7447 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7448 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7451 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7453 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7454 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7457 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7458 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7459 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7460 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7463 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7464 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7465 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7466 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7467 all articles, both read and unread.
7471 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7472 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7473 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7474 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7475 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7476 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7477 articles, both read and unread.
7480 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7481 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7482 Exit the group and go to the next group
7483 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7486 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7487 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7488 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7489 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7492 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7493 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7494 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7495 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7496 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7497 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7500 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7501 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7504 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7505 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7506 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7507 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7508 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7509 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7510 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7511 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7512 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7513 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7514 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7515 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7517 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7519 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7520 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7521 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7522 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7523 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7524 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7525 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7526 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7527 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7530 @node Crosspost Handling
7531 @section Crosspost Handling
7535 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7536 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7537 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7538 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7539 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7540 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7543 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7544 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7545 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7546 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7547 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7549 @cindex cross-posting
7552 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7553 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7554 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7555 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7556 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7557 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7558 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7559 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7560 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7561 the cross reference mechanism.
7563 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7564 @cindex overview.fmt
7565 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7566 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7567 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7568 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7569 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7570 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7573 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7574 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7575 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7580 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7583 @node Duplicate Suppression
7584 @section Duplicate Suppression
7586 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7587 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7588 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7589 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7594 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7595 is evil and not very common.
7598 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7599 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7602 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7603 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7606 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7609 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7610 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7612 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7613 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7614 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7615 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7616 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7617 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7618 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7621 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7622 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7623 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7624 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7625 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7629 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7630 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7631 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7633 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7634 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7635 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7636 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7637 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7638 session are suppressed.
7640 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7641 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7642 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7643 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7645 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7646 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7647 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7648 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7651 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7652 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7653 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7654 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7655 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7656 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7657 to you to figure out, I think.
7660 @node The Article Buffer
7661 @chapter The Article Buffer
7662 @cindex article buffer
7664 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7665 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7666 tell Gnus otherwise.
7669 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7670 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7671 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7672 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7673 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7677 @node Hiding Headers
7678 @section Hiding Headers
7679 @cindex hiding headers
7680 @cindex deleting headers
7682 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7683 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7685 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7686 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7687 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7688 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7689 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7690 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7691 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7692 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7693 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7695 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7699 @item gnus-visible-headers
7700 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7701 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7702 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7703 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7705 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7706 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7709 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7712 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7715 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7716 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7717 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7718 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7719 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7720 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7722 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7723 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7726 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7729 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7732 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7733 variable will have no effect.
7737 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7738 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7739 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7740 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7741 the headers are to be displayed.
7743 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7744 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7747 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7750 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7751 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
7753 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7754 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7755 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7756 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7757 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7758 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7759 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7760 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7761 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7763 These conditions are:
7766 Remove all empty headers.
7768 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7771 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7772 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7774 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7777 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7780 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7782 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7785 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7788 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7789 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7792 This is also the default value for this variable.
7796 @section Using @sc{mime}
7799 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7800 while people stand around yawning.
7802 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7803 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7805 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7806 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7807 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7809 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7810 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7811 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7812 @findex metamail-buffer
7813 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7814 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7815 default. This function calls the external @code{metamail} program to
7816 actually do the work. One common problem with this program is that is
7817 thinks that it can't display 8-bit things in the Emacs buffer. To tell
7818 it the truth, put something like the following in your
7819 @file{.bash_profile} file. (You do use @code{bash}, don't you?)
7822 export MM_CHARSET="iso-8859-1"
7825 For more information on @code{metamail}, see its manual page.
7827 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7828 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7829 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7830 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7831 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7832 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7834 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7835 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7836 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7837 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7838 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7839 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7840 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7841 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7842 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7844 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7847 @node Customizing Articles
7848 @section Customizing Articles
7849 @cindex article customization
7851 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7852 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7853 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7854 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7856 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7857 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7858 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7859 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7860 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7861 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7862 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7863 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7864 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7866 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7867 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7868 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7869 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7870 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7873 @node Article Keymap
7874 @section Article Keymap
7876 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7877 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7878 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7879 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7882 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7887 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7888 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7889 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7892 @kindex DEL (Article)
7893 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7894 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7897 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7898 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7899 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7900 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7901 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7904 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7905 @findex gnus-article-mail
7906 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7907 given a prefix, include the mail.
7911 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7912 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7913 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7917 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7918 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7919 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7922 @kindex TAB (Article)
7923 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7924 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
7925 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7928 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7929 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7930 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
7936 @section Misc Article
7940 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7941 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7942 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7943 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7946 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7947 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7948 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7949 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7950 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7951 the contents of the article buffer.
7953 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7954 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7955 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7956 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7957 hiding headers, and the like.
7959 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7960 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7961 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7963 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7964 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7965 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7966 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7968 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7969 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7970 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7971 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7972 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7976 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7977 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7981 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7983 @item gnus-break-pages
7984 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7985 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7986 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7987 paging will not be done.
7989 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7990 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7991 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7996 @node Composing Messages
7997 @chapter Composing Messages
7998 @cindex composing messages
8001 @cindex sending mail
8006 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8007 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8008 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8009 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8010 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8011 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8012 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8015 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8016 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8017 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8018 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8019 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8020 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8021 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8024 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8025 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8031 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8034 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8035 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8036 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8037 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8039 @item gnus-add-to-list
8040 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8041 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8042 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8050 Variables for composing news articles:
8053 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8054 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8055 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8056 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8057 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8058 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8059 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8060 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8061 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8064 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8065 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8066 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8067 file. It is 1000 by default.
8072 @node Posting Server
8073 @section Posting Server
8075 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8076 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8078 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8080 @vindex gnus-post-method
8082 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8083 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8084 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8085 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8086 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8089 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8092 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8093 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8094 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8095 the ``current'' server for posting.
8097 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8098 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8100 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8101 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8106 @section Mail and Post
8108 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8112 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8113 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8114 @cindex mailing lists
8116 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8117 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8118 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8119 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8120 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8121 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8122 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8123 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8124 still a pain, though.
8128 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8129 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8130 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8133 @findex ispell-message
8135 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8139 @node Archived Messages
8140 @section Archived Messages
8141 @cindex archived messages
8142 @cindex sent messages
8144 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8145 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8146 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8147 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8150 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8151 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8152 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8156 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8157 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8158 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8159 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8162 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8163 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8164 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8165 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8168 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8169 '(nnfolder "archive"
8170 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8171 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8172 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8175 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8177 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8178 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8179 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8181 This variable can be used to do the following:
8185 Messages will be saved in that group.
8186 @item a list of strings
8187 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8188 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8189 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8191 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8196 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8198 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8201 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8203 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8206 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8208 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8209 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8210 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8211 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8216 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8217 '((if (message-news-p)
8222 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8223 messages in one file per month:
8226 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8227 '((if (message-news-p)
8229 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8230 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8233 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8234 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8236 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8237 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8238 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8239 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8240 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8241 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8242 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8243 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8244 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8245 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8247 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8248 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8249 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8250 this will disable archiving.
8253 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8254 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8255 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8256 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8257 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8260 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8261 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8262 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8265 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8266 but the latter is the preferred method.
8270 @c @node Posting Styles
8271 @c @section Posting Styles
8272 @c @cindex posting styles
8275 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
8277 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8278 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8279 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8282 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8283 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8284 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8285 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8286 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8291 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
8292 @c (organization . "What me?"))
8294 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
8295 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8296 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
8299 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8300 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8301 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8302 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8303 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8304 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8305 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8306 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8308 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8309 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8310 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8311 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8312 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8313 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8316 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8317 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8318 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
8319 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8320 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8323 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8324 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8325 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8327 @c So here's a new example:
8330 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
8332 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
8333 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
8334 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8335 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
8337 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8338 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8339 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
8340 @c (posting-from-work-p
8341 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
8342 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
8343 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
8345 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
8352 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8353 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8354 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8355 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8356 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8358 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8359 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8360 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8361 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8362 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8366 @vindex nndraft-directory
8367 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8368 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8369 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8370 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8371 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8372 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8374 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8375 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8378 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8379 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8380 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8381 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8382 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8383 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8384 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8385 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8386 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8387 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8388 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8389 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8390 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8391 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8393 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8394 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8395 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8397 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8399 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8400 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8401 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8403 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8406 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8407 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8408 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8409 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8410 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8411 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8412 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8415 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8416 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8417 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8420 @node Rejected Articles
8421 @section Rejected Articles
8422 @cindex rejected articles
8424 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8425 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8426 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8427 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8429 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8430 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8431 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8432 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8433 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8435 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8436 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8437 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8440 @node Select Methods
8441 @chapter Select Methods
8442 @cindex foreign groups
8443 @cindex select methods
8445 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8446 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8447 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8448 personal mail group.
8450 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8451 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8452 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8453 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8454 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8455 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8457 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8458 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8460 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8463 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8464 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8465 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8466 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8467 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8469 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8472 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8473 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8474 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8475 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8476 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8477 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8481 @node The Server Buffer
8482 @section The Server Buffer
8484 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8485 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8486 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8487 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8488 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8489 backend represents a virtual server.
8491 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8492 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8493 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8494 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8496 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8497 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8498 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8499 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8500 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8501 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8502 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8504 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8505 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8508 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8509 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8510 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8511 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8512 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8513 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8514 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8517 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8518 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8521 @node Server Buffer Format
8522 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8523 @cindex server buffer format
8525 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8526 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8527 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8528 variable, with some simple extensions:
8533 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8536 The name of this server.
8539 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8542 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8545 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8546 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8547 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
8558 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8561 @node Server Commands
8562 @subsection Server Commands
8563 @cindex server commands
8569 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8570 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8574 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8575 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8578 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8579 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8580 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8584 @findex gnus-server-exit
8585 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8589 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8590 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8594 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8595 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8599 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8600 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8604 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8605 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8609 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8610 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8611 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8616 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8617 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8618 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8619 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8624 @node Example Methods
8625 @subsection Example Methods
8627 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8630 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8633 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8639 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8640 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8643 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8644 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8646 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8647 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8651 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8654 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8655 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8657 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8658 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8659 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8663 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8666 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8669 Here's the method for a public spool:
8673 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8674 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8677 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8678 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8679 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8680 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8681 should probably look something like this:
8685 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8686 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8687 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8688 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8689 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8692 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8693 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8694 server that would look something like this:
8698 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8699 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8700 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8701 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8702 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8703 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8706 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8707 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8708 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8709 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8712 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8713 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8715 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8716 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8718 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8719 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8720 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8722 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8724 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8725 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8726 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8727 will contain the following:
8737 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8738 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8739 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8742 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8743 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8744 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8747 @node Server Variables
8748 @subsection Server Variables
8750 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8751 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8752 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8753 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8754 won't change the "derived" variables.
8756 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8757 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8758 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8759 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8760 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8761 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8762 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8763 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8764 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8768 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8769 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8770 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8774 @node Servers and Methods
8775 @subsection Servers and Methods
8777 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8778 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8779 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8780 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8784 @node Unavailable Servers
8785 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8787 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8788 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8789 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8790 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8791 actually the case or not.
8793 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8794 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8795 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8796 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8797 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8798 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8799 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8800 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8802 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8803 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8805 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8806 with the following commands:
8812 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8813 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8814 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8818 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8819 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8820 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8824 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8825 Mark the current server as unreachable
8826 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8829 @kindex M-o (Server)
8830 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8831 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8832 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8835 @kindex M-c (Server)
8836 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8837 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8838 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8842 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8843 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8844 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8850 @section Getting News
8851 @cindex reading news
8852 @cindex news backends
8854 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8855 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8856 or it can read from a local spool.
8859 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8860 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8865 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8868 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8869 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8870 server as the, uhm, address.
8872 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8873 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8874 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8875 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8877 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8878 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8879 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8881 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8886 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8887 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8888 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8890 @cindex authentification
8891 @cindex nntp authentification
8892 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8893 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8894 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
8895 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
8896 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
8897 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
8898 present in this hook.
8900 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8901 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8902 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8903 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
8904 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8905 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
8906 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
8907 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
8908 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
8909 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
8910 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
8911 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
8915 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
8918 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
8919 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password}, and
8920 @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp}
8921 token, which is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format deviates
8922 from the @file{.netrc} file format.)
8926 Here's an example file:
8929 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
8930 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
8933 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
8934 have to be first, for instance.
8936 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
8937 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
8938 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
8939 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
8940 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
8941 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
8942 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
8944 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
8946 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8947 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8948 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8949 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8950 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8953 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8957 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8959 The default value is
8962 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8963 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8966 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8967 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8969 @item nntp-maximum-request
8970 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8971 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8972 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8973 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8974 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8975 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8976 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8978 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8979 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8980 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8981 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8982 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8983 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8984 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8985 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8986 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8987 no timeouts are done.
8989 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
8990 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8991 @c @cindex PPP connections
8992 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8993 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8994 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8995 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8996 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8997 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8998 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
8999 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9000 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9001 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9003 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9004 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9005 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9006 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9009 @item nntp-server-hook
9010 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9011 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9014 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9015 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9016 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9017 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9018 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9019 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Three pre-made
9020 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
9021 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
9022 two are @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9023 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9024 available there, and @code{nntp-open-telnet}, which does a @samp{telnet}
9025 to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet} to get to the
9028 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9032 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9033 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9034 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9035 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9037 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9038 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9039 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9041 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9042 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9043 User name on the remote system.
9047 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9050 @item nntp-telnet-command
9051 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9052 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9054 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9055 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9056 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9058 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9059 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9060 User name for log in on the remote system.
9062 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9063 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9064 Password to use when logging in.
9066 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9067 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9068 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9071 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9072 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9073 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9074 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9076 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9077 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9078 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9079 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9080 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9084 @item nntp-end-of-line
9085 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9086 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9087 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9088 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9090 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9091 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9092 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9096 @vindex nntp-address
9097 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9099 @item nntp-port-number
9100 @vindex nntp-port-number
9101 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9104 @item nntp-buggy-select
9105 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9106 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9108 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9109 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9110 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9111 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9114 @item nntp-xover-commands
9115 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9118 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9119 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9123 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9124 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9125 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9126 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9127 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9128 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9129 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9130 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9131 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9132 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9133 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9135 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9136 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9137 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9139 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9140 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9141 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9142 server closes connection.
9144 @item nntp-record-commands
9145 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9146 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9147 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9148 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9149 that doesn't seem to work.
9155 @subsection News Spool
9159 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9160 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9161 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9164 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9165 anything else) as the address.
9167 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9168 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9169 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9170 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9174 @item nnspool-inews-program
9175 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9176 Program used to post an article.
9178 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9179 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9180 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9182 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9183 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9184 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9185 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9187 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9188 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9189 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9190 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9192 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9193 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9194 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9196 @item nnspool-active-file
9197 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9198 The path to the active file.
9200 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9201 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9202 The path to the group descriptions file.
9204 @item nnspool-history-file
9205 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9206 The path to the news history file.
9208 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9209 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9210 The path to the active date file.
9212 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9213 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9214 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9217 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9218 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9220 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9221 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9222 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9228 @section Getting Mail
9229 @cindex reading mail
9232 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9236 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9237 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9238 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9239 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9240 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9241 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9242 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9243 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9244 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9245 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9246 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9250 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9251 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9253 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9254 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9255 and things will happen automatically.
9257 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9258 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9261 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9262 '((nnml "private")))
9265 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9266 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9267 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9268 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9269 like any other group.
9271 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9274 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9275 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9276 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9280 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9281 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9282 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9285 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9286 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9287 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9290 @node Splitting Mail
9291 @subsection Splitting Mail
9292 @cindex splitting mail
9293 @cindex mail splitting
9295 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9296 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9297 to be split into groups.
9300 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9301 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9302 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9306 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9307 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9308 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9309 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9310 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9311 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9312 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9315 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9318 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
9319 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
9322 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9323 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9324 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9325 mail belongs in that group.
9327 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9328 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9329 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9330 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9331 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9332 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9334 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9335 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9336 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9337 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9338 thinks should carry this mail message.
9340 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9341 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9342 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9343 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9345 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9346 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9347 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9348 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9349 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9351 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9354 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9355 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9356 links. If that's the case for you, set
9357 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9358 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9360 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9361 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9362 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9363 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9365 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9366 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9367 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9368 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9369 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9370 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9371 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9372 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9376 @node Mail Backend Variables
9377 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9379 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9383 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9384 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9385 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9386 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9388 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9389 @item nnmail-spool-file
9393 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9394 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9395 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9396 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9397 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9398 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9399 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9400 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9401 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9402 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9403 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9404 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9405 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9406 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9407 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9409 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9411 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9412 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9415 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9416 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9417 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9418 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9419 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9420 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9422 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9423 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9424 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9425 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9426 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9427 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9428 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9431 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9432 @item nnmail-crash-box
9433 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9434 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9435 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9438 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9439 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9440 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9441 used for, well, anything, really.
9443 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9444 @item nnmail-split-hook
9445 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9446 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9447 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9448 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9449 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9450 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9451 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9452 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9454 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9455 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9456 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9457 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9458 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9459 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9460 starting to handle the new mail) and
9461 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9462 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9463 default file modes the new mail files get:
9466 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9467 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9469 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9470 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9473 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9474 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9475 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9476 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9477 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9478 it will be used instead.
9480 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9481 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9482 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9483 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9485 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9486 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9489 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9490 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9491 @cindex incoming mail files
9492 @cindex deleting incoming files
9493 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9494 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9497 @c This is @code{nil} by
9498 @c default for reasons of security.
9500 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9501 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9502 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9503 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9504 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9507 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9509 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9510 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9511 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9512 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9513 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9514 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9515 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9517 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9518 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9520 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9522 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9523 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9524 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9525 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9526 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9531 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9532 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9533 @cindex mail splitting
9534 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9536 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9537 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9538 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9539 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9540 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9541 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9543 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9546 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9547 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9548 ;; from real errors.
9549 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9551 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9552 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9553 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9554 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9555 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9556 ;; Other mailing lists...
9557 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9558 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9560 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9561 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9565 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9566 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9567 the five possible split syntaxes:
9572 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
9575 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9576 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9577 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9580 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9581 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9582 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9583 be stored in one or more groups.
9586 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9587 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9590 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9594 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9595 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9596 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9601 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9602 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9603 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9604 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9605 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9607 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9608 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9609 are expanded as specified by the variable
9610 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9611 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9614 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9615 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9616 when all this splitting is performed.
9618 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9619 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9620 substitions in the group names), you can say things like:
9623 (any "debian-\\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9626 @node Mail and Procmail
9627 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9632 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9633 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9634 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9635 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9636 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9638 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9639 something like the following:
9641 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9643 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9644 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9645 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9648 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9649 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9652 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9653 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9654 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9655 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9656 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9657 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9659 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9662 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9664 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9665 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9667 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9668 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9669 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9670 to include all your mail groups.
9672 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9673 method will be created automatically.
9675 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9676 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9677 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9678 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9679 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9680 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9681 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9682 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9684 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9685 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9686 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9687 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9688 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9690 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9691 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9692 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9693 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9694 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9695 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9697 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9698 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9699 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9700 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9701 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9704 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9705 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9706 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9707 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9708 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9712 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9713 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9715 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9716 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9717 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9720 Doing so can be quite easy.
9722 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9723 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9724 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9725 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9726 your @code{nnml} groups.
9732 Go to the group buffer.
9735 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9736 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9739 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9742 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9743 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9746 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9747 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9750 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9751 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9752 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9753 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9754 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9756 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9757 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9758 using the new mail backend.
9762 @subsection Expiring Mail
9763 @cindex article expiry
9765 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9766 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9767 different approach to mail reading.
9769 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9770 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9771 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9772 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9773 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9774 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9777 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9778 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9779 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9780 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9781 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9782 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9783 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9784 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9786 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9787 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9788 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9789 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9790 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9791 column in the summary buffer.
9793 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9794 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9795 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9796 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9799 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9801 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9802 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9803 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9806 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9807 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
9808 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9809 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9810 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9812 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9813 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9816 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9817 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9820 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9821 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9823 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9824 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9825 don't really mix very well.
9827 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9828 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9829 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9830 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9833 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9834 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9835 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9836 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9839 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9841 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9843 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9845 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9847 ((string= group "important")
9853 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9854 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9856 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9857 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
9858 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
9861 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9862 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9864 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9865 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9866 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9867 easier for procmail users.
9869 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9870 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9871 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9872 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9873 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9874 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9875 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9876 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9877 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9878 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9879 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9880 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9881 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9884 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9888 @subsection Washing Mail
9889 @cindex mail washing
9890 @cindex list server brain damage
9891 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9893 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9894 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9895 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9896 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9897 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9898 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9900 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9901 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9902 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9905 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9906 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9907 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9908 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9911 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9912 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9913 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9914 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9917 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9918 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9919 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9920 Emacs running on MS machines.
9924 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9925 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9926 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9927 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9930 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9931 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9932 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9933 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
9935 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9936 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9937 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9938 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9939 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9940 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9941 also be a list of regexp.
9943 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9944 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9947 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9948 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9951 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9952 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9953 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9957 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9958 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9959 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9963 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9964 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9965 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9972 @subsection Duplicates
9974 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9975 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9976 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9977 @cindex duplicate mails
9978 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
9979 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
9980 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
9981 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
9982 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
9983 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
9984 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
9985 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
9986 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
9987 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
9988 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
9989 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
9990 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
9992 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
9993 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
9994 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
9995 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
9997 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10000 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10001 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10005 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10006 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10007 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10008 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10009 (any mail "mail.misc")
10016 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10017 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10022 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10023 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10024 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10025 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10026 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10029 @node Not Reading Mail
10030 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10032 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10033 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10034 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10036 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10037 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10039 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10040 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10041 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10042 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10043 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10044 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10045 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10046 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10047 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10048 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10049 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10051 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10052 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10056 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10057 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10059 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10060 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10061 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10064 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10065 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10066 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10067 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10068 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10072 @node Unix Mail Box
10073 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10075 @cindex unix mail box
10077 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10078 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10079 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10080 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10081 which group it belongs in.
10083 Virtual server settings:
10086 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10087 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10088 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10090 @item nnmbox-active-file
10091 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10092 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10094 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10095 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10096 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10102 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10106 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10107 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10108 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10109 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10110 article to say which group it belongs in.
10112 Virtual server settings:
10115 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10116 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10117 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10119 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10120 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10121 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10123 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10124 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10125 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10130 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10132 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10134 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10135 format. It should be used with some caution.
10137 @vindex nnml-directory
10138 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10139 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10140 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10141 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10143 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10146 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10147 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10148 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10149 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10150 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10151 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10152 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10153 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10155 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10156 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10157 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10158 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10160 Virtual server settings:
10163 @item nnml-directory
10164 @vindex nnml-directory
10165 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10167 @item nnml-active-file
10168 @vindex nnml-active-file
10169 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10171 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10172 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10173 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10176 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10177 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10178 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10180 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10181 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10182 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10184 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10185 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10186 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10188 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10189 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10190 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10194 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10195 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10196 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10197 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10198 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10199 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10200 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10205 @subsubsection MH Spool
10207 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10209 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10210 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10211 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10212 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10214 Virtual server settings:
10217 @item nnmh-directory
10218 @vindex nnmh-directory
10219 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10221 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10222 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10223 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10226 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10227 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10228 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10229 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10230 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10231 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10232 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10237 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10239 @cindex mbox folders
10240 @cindex mail folders
10242 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10243 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10244 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10247 Virtual server settings:
10250 @item nnfolder-directory
10251 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10252 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10254 @item nnfolder-active-file
10255 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10256 The name of the active file.
10258 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10259 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10260 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10262 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10263 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10264 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10267 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10268 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10269 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10270 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10271 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10272 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10275 @node Other Sources
10276 @section Other Sources
10278 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10279 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10283 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10284 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10285 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10286 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10287 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10288 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10292 @node Directory Groups
10293 @subsection Directory Groups
10295 @cindex directory groups
10297 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10298 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10301 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10302 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10303 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10304 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10306 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10307 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10308 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10309 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10310 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10312 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10314 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10315 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10316 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10317 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10320 @node Anything Groups
10321 @subsection Anything Groups
10324 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10325 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10326 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10329 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10330 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10331 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10332 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10333 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10334 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10335 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10336 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10337 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10338 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10341 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10342 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10343 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10344 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10346 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10347 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10348 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10349 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10351 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10352 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10353 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10354 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10355 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10356 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10357 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10358 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10363 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10364 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10365 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10366 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10368 @item nneething-exclude-files
10369 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10370 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10371 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10373 @item nneething-map-file
10374 @vindex nneething-map-file
10375 Name of the map files.
10379 @node Document Groups
10380 @subsection Document Groups
10382 @cindex documentation group
10385 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10386 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10393 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10398 The standard Unix mbox file.
10400 @cindex MMDF mail box
10402 The MMDF mail box format.
10405 Several news articles appended into a file.
10408 @cindex rnews batch files
10409 The rnews batch transport format.
10410 @cindex forwarded messages
10413 Forwarded articles.
10417 @cindex MIME digest
10418 @cindex 1153 digest
10419 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10420 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10421 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10423 @item standard-digest
10424 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10427 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10430 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10431 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10432 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10435 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10436 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10437 group. And that's it.
10439 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10440 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10441 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10442 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10443 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10444 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10445 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10446 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10447 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10448 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10450 Virtual server variables:
10453 @item nndoc-article-type
10454 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10455 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10456 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10457 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{standard-digest},
10458 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
10460 @item nndoc-post-type
10461 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10462 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10463 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10468 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10472 @node Document Server Internals
10473 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10475 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10476 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10477 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10478 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10480 First, here's an example document type definition:
10484 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10485 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10488 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10489 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10490 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10491 types can be defined with very few settings:
10494 @item first-article
10495 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10496 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10499 @item article-begin
10500 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10501 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10503 @item head-begin-function
10504 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10507 @item nndoc-head-begin
10508 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10511 @item nndoc-head-end
10512 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10513 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10515 @item body-begin-function
10516 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10520 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10523 @item body-end-function
10524 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10528 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10531 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10532 regexp will be totally ignored.
10536 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10537 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10538 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10539 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10540 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10543 @item prepare-body-function
10544 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10545 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10546 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10548 @item article-transform-function
10549 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10550 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10551 body of the article.
10553 @item generate-head-function
10554 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10555 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10556 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10557 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10561 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10566 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10567 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10568 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10569 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10570 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10571 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10572 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10573 (subtype digest guess))
10576 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10577 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10578 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10579 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10580 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10582 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10583 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10584 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10585 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10586 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
10587 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10588 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10589 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10590 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10591 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10599 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10600 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10601 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10603 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10604 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10605 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10608 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10609 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10610 that interested in doing things properly.
10612 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10613 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10616 First some terminology:
10621 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10622 get news and/or mail from.
10625 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10626 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10629 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10633 @item message packets
10634 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10635 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10636 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10638 @item response packets
10639 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10640 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10641 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10651 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10652 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10653 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10654 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10657 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10660 You put the packet in your home directory.
10663 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10664 the native or secondary server.
10667 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10668 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10671 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10675 You transfer this packet to the server.
10678 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10681 You then repeat until you die.
10685 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10686 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10689 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10690 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10691 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10695 @node SOUP Commands
10696 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10698 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10702 @kindex G s b (Group)
10703 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10704 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10705 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10706 process/prefix convention.
10709 @kindex G s w (Group)
10710 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10711 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10714 @kindex G s s (Group)
10715 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10716 Send all replies from the replies packet
10717 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10720 @kindex G s p (Group)
10721 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10722 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10725 @kindex G s r (Group)
10726 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10727 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10730 @kindex O s (Summary)
10731 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10732 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10733 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10734 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10739 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10744 @item gnus-soup-directory
10745 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10746 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10747 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10749 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10750 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10751 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10752 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10754 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10755 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10756 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10757 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10759 @item gnus-soup-packer
10760 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10761 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10762 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10764 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10765 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10766 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10767 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10769 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10770 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10771 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10773 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10774 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10775 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10776 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10782 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10785 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10786 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10787 you can read them at leisure.
10789 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10793 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10794 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10795 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10796 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10798 @item nnsoup-directory
10799 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10800 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10801 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10803 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10804 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10805 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
10806 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10808 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10809 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10810 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10811 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10812 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10814 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10815 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10816 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
10817 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10819 @item nnsoup-active-file
10820 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10821 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10822 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10823 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10824 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10826 @item nnsoup-packer
10827 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10828 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10829 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10831 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10832 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10833 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10834 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10836 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10837 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10838 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10841 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10842 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10843 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10846 @item nnsoup-always-save
10847 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
10848 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
10854 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10856 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10857 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10858 more for that to happen.
10860 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10861 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10862 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10865 In specific, this is what it does:
10868 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10869 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10872 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10873 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10874 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10878 @subsection Web Searches
10882 @cindex InReference
10883 @cindex Usenet searches
10884 @cindex searching the Usenet
10886 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10887 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10888 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10889 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10890 searches without having to use a browser.
10892 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10893 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10894 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10895 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10896 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10898 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10899 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10900 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10901 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10902 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
10903 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10904 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10905 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10906 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10907 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
10910 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10911 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10912 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10913 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10914 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10915 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10917 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10918 to use @code{nnweb}.
10920 Virtual server variables:
10925 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10926 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
10930 @vindex nnweb-search
10931 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10933 @item nnweb-max-hits
10934 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10935 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10938 @item nnweb-type-definition
10939 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10940 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10941 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10946 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10950 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10953 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10956 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10960 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10967 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10968 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10969 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10972 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10973 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10974 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10976 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
10982 @item nngateway-address
10983 @vindex nngateway-address
10984 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
10986 @item nngateway-header-transformation
10987 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
10988 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
10989 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
10990 transformation should be called, and defaults to
10991 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
10992 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
10995 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
10996 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
10997 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11000 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11003 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11006 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11011 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11014 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11018 @node Combined Groups
11019 @section Combined Groups
11021 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11025 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11026 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11030 @node Virtual Groups
11031 @subsection Virtual Groups
11033 @cindex virtual groups
11035 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11038 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11039 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11040 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11042 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11043 regexp to match component groups.
11045 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11046 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11047 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11048 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11049 the virtual group.)
11051 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11052 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11055 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11058 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11059 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11061 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11062 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11063 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11064 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11067 "^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11070 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11071 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11072 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11074 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11075 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11076 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11077 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11078 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11080 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11081 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11082 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11084 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11085 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11086 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11087 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11088 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11089 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11090 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11091 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11092 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11093 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11094 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11097 @node Kibozed Groups
11098 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11102 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11103 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11104 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11105 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11107 @kindex G k (Group)
11108 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11111 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11112 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11113 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11114 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11116 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11117 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11118 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11120 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11121 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11122 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11123 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11124 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11125 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11126 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11127 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11129 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11130 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11131 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11132 Stranger things have happened.
11134 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11135 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11137 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11138 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11139 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11140 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11141 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11142 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11144 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11145 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11148 @node Gnus Unplugged
11149 @section Gnus Unplugged
11154 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11156 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11157 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11158 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11159 read news. Believe it or not.
11161 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11162 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11163 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11164 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11165 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11167 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11168 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11169 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11170 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11171 reading news on a machine.
11173 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11177 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11178 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11182 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11183 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11190 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11192 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11195 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11196 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11197 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11198 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11199 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11200 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11201 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11202 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11207 @subsection Agent Basics
11209 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11211 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11212 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11213 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11214 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11216 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11217 connected to the net continously.
11219 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11220 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11222 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11227 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11228 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11229 already fetched while in this mode.
11232 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11233 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11234 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11237 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11238 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11239 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11240 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11243 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11244 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11245 then you read the news offline.
11248 And then you go to step 2.
11251 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11257 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11258 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11259 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11260 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11261 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11262 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11265 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11272 @node Agent Categories
11273 @subsection Agent Categories
11275 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11276 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11277 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11278 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11279 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11280 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11281 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11283 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11284 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11285 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11288 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11289 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11290 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11294 @node Category Syntax
11295 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11297 A category consists of two things.
11301 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11302 are eligible for downloading; and
11305 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11306 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11307 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11310 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11313 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11315 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11316 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11322 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11323 short (for some value of ``short'').
11325 Here's a more complex predicate:
11334 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11335 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11338 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11339 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11340 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11342 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11343 you want to do, you can write your own.
11347 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11348 lines; default 100.
11351 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11352 lines; default 200.
11355 True iff the article has a download score less than
11356 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11359 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11360 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11363 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11364 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11365 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11374 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11375 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11376 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11379 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11380 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11381 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11382 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11383 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11384 and @code{References}.
11387 @node The Category Buffer
11388 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11390 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11391 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11392 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11394 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11398 @kindex q (Category)
11399 @findex gnus-category-exit
11400 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11403 @kindex k (Category)
11404 @findex gnus-category-kill
11405 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11408 @kindex c (Category)
11409 @findex gnus-category-copy
11410 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11413 @kindex a (Category)
11414 @findex gnus-category-add
11415 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11418 @kindex p (Category)
11419 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11420 Edit the predicate of the current category
11421 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11424 @kindex g (Category)
11425 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11426 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11427 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11430 @kindex s (Category)
11431 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11432 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11433 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11436 @kindex l (Category)
11437 @findex gnus-category-list
11438 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11442 @node Category Variables
11443 @subsubsection Category Variables
11446 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11447 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11448 Hook run in category buffers.
11450 @item gnus-category-line-format
11451 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11452 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11453 Variables}). Legal elements are:
11457 The name of the category.
11460 The number of groups in the category.
11463 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11464 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11465 Format of the category mode line.
11467 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11468 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11469 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11471 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11472 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11473 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11475 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11476 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11477 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11480 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11481 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11482 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11488 @node Agent Commands
11489 @subsection Agent Commands
11491 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11492 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11493 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11497 * Group Agent Commands::
11498 * Summary Agent Commands::
11499 * Server Agent Commands::
11502 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11503 following incantation:
11505 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11507 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11512 @node Group Agent Commands
11513 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11517 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11518 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11519 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11520 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11523 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11524 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11525 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11528 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11529 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11530 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11531 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11534 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11535 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11536 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11537 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11540 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11541 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11542 Add the current group to an Agent category
11543 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11548 @node Summary Agent Commands
11549 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11553 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11554 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11555 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11558 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11559 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11560 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11561 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11564 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11565 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11566 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11569 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11570 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11571 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11576 @node Server Agent Commands
11577 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11581 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11582 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11583 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11584 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11587 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11588 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11589 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11590 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11596 @subsection Agent Expiry
11598 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11599 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11600 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11601 @cindex Agent expiry
11602 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11605 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11606 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11607 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11608 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11609 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11610 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11612 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11613 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11614 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11615 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11616 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11619 @node Outgoing Messages
11620 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11622 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11623 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11624 after posting, and edit them at will.
11626 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11627 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11628 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11629 messages in the draft group.
11633 @node Agent Variables
11634 @subsection Agent Variables
11637 @item gnus-agent-directory
11638 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11639 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11640 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11642 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11643 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11644 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11645 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11646 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11649 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11650 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11651 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11653 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11654 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11655 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11660 @node Example Setup
11661 @subsection Example Setup
11663 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11664 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11665 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11668 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11669 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11670 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11672 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11673 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11674 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11675 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11677 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11678 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11680 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11684 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11685 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11688 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11689 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11690 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11691 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11692 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11695 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11696 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11697 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11698 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11699 back all the killed groups.)
11701 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11702 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11703 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11706 @node Batching Agents
11707 @subsection Batching Agents
11709 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11710 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11711 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11715 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11724 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11725 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11726 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11729 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11730 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11731 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11732 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11733 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11735 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11736 before generating the summary buffer.
11738 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11739 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11740 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
11742 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
11743 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
11744 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
11745 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
11748 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
11749 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
11750 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
11751 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
11752 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
11753 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
11754 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
11755 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
11756 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
11757 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
11758 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
11759 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
11760 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
11761 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
11762 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
11763 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
11767 @node Summary Score Commands
11768 @section Summary Score Commands
11769 @cindex score commands
11771 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
11772 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
11773 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
11774 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
11775 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
11777 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
11778 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
11779 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
11780 score file the current one.
11782 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
11787 @kindex V s (Summary)
11788 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
11789 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
11792 @kindex V S (Summary)
11793 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
11794 Display the score of the current article
11795 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
11798 @kindex V t (Summary)
11799 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
11800 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
11801 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
11804 @kindex V R (Summary)
11805 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
11806 Run the current summary through the scoring process
11807 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
11808 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
11809 effect you're having.
11812 @kindex V a (Summary)
11813 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
11814 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
11815 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
11818 @kindex V c (Summary)
11819 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
11820 Make a different score file the current
11821 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
11824 @kindex V e (Summary)
11825 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
11826 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
11827 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
11831 @kindex V f (Summary)
11832 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
11833 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
11834 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
11837 @kindex V F (Summary)
11838 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11839 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
11840 after editing score files.
11843 @kindex V C (Summary)
11844 @findex gnus-score-customize
11845 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
11846 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
11850 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
11855 @kindex V m (Summary)
11856 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
11857 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
11858 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
11861 @kindex V x (Summary)
11862 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
11863 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
11864 expunge all articles below this score
11865 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
11868 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
11869 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
11872 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
11873 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
11877 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
11878 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
11880 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
11881 keys are available:
11885 Score on the author name.
11888 Score on the subject line.
11891 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
11894 Score on thread---the References line.
11900 Score on the number of lines.
11903 Score on the Message-ID.
11906 Score on followups.
11916 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
11917 what headers you are scoring on.
11929 Substring matching.
11932 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
11961 Greater than number.
11966 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
11967 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
11968 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
11972 Temporary score entry.
11975 Permanent score entry.
11978 Immediately scoring.
11983 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
11984 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
11985 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
11986 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
11988 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
11989 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
11990 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
11991 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
11992 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
11994 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
11995 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
11996 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
11997 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
11998 current score file.
12000 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12001 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12002 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12005 @node Group Score Commands
12006 @section Group Score Commands
12007 @cindex group score commands
12009 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12014 @kindex W f (Group)
12015 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12016 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12017 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12018 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12022 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12024 @findex gnus-batch-score
12025 @cindex batch scoring
12027 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12031 @node Score Variables
12032 @section Score Variables
12033 @cindex score variables
12037 @item gnus-use-scoring
12038 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12039 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12040 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12042 @item gnus-kill-killed
12043 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12044 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12045 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12046 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12047 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12048 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12049 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12051 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12052 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12053 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12054 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12055 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12057 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12058 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12059 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12060 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12062 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12063 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12064 @cindex score cache
12065 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12066 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12067 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
12068 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12069 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12070 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12073 @item gnus-save-score
12074 @vindex gnus-save-score
12075 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12076 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12077 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12079 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12080 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12081 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12082 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12083 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12084 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12085 manually entered data.
12087 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12088 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12089 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12091 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12092 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12093 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12094 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12095 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12096 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12098 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12099 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12100 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12101 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12103 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12104 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12105 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12106 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12108 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12109 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12110 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12111 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12113 Predefined functions available are:
12116 @item gnus-score-find-single
12117 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12118 Only apply the group's own score file.
12120 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12121 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12122 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12123 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12124 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12125 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12126 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12127 then a regexp match is done.
12129 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12130 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12132 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12133 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12134 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12135 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12137 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12138 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12139 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12140 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12141 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12144 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12145 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12146 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12147 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12148 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12149 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12152 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12153 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12154 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12155 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12156 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12158 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12159 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12160 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12161 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12162 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12163 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12164 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12167 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12168 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12169 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12171 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12172 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12173 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12174 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12175 threading---according to the current value of
12176 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12177 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12178 simplified in this manner.
12183 @node Score File Format
12184 @section Score File Format
12185 @cindex score file format
12187 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12188 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12189 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12191 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12195 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12197 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12199 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12201 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12206 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12210 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12211 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12212 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12213 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12217 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12218 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12220 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12221 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12222 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12224 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12229 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12230 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12231 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12232 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12233 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12234 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12235 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12236 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12237 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12238 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12239 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12240 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12241 to articles that matches these score entries.
12243 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12244 score entry has one to four elements.
12248 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12249 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12253 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12254 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12255 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12256 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12257 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12258 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12261 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12262 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12263 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12264 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12265 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12268 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12269 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12270 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12271 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12274 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12275 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12276 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12277 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12278 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12279 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12280 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12281 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12282 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12283 instead, if you feel like.
12286 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12287 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
12288 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
12289 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
12290 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
12291 the articles with few lines.
12294 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12295 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12296 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12297 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12298 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12299 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12300 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12304 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12305 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12306 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12307 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12308 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12309 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12310 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12311 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12314 @item Head, Body, All
12315 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12319 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12320 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12321 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12322 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12323 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12324 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12325 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12329 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12330 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12331 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12332 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12333 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12334 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12335 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12336 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12337 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12338 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12342 @cindex Score File Atoms
12344 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12345 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12348 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12349 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12351 @item mark-and-expunge
12352 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12353 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12356 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12357 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12358 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12359 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12360 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12363 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12364 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12367 @item exclude-files
12368 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12369 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12373 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12374 ignored when handling global score files.
12377 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12378 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12379 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12380 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12383 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12384 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12385 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12386 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12388 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12392 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12395 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12396 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12397 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12398 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12399 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12401 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12402 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12403 ordinary scoring rules.
12406 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12407 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12408 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12409 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12410 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12411 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12412 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12413 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12414 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12415 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12416 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12420 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12421 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12422 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12423 file for a number of groups.
12426 @cindex local variables
12427 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12428 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12429 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12430 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12431 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12435 @node Score File Editing
12436 @section Score File Editing
12438 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12439 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12440 with a mode for that.
12442 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12443 additional commands:
12448 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12449 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12450 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12451 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12454 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12455 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12456 Insert the current date in numerical format
12457 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12458 you were wondering.
12461 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12462 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12463 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12464 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12465 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12470 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12472 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12473 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12475 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12476 e} to begin editing score files.
12479 @node Adaptive Scoring
12480 @section Adaptive Scoring
12481 @cindex adaptive scoring
12483 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12484 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12485 stupidity, to be precise.
12487 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12488 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12489 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12490 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12491 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12492 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12493 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12494 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12495 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12497 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12498 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12499 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12500 might look something like this:
12503 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12504 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12505 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12506 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12507 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12508 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12509 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12510 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12511 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12512 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12513 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12514 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12517 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12518 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12519 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12520 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12521 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12522 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12525 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12526 will be applied to each article.
12528 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12529 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12530 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12531 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12533 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12534 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12535 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12536 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12538 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12539 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12540 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12541 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12543 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12544 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12545 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12546 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12547 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12548 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12550 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12551 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12552 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12553 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12554 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12555 aspirins afterwards.)
12557 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12558 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12559 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12561 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12562 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12563 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12565 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12566 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12567 let you use different rules in different groups.
12569 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12570 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12571 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12574 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12575 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12576 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12577 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12578 the length of the match is less than
12579 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12580 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12583 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12584 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12585 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12586 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12587 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12590 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12591 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12592 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12593 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12594 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12597 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12598 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12599 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12600 score with 30 points.
12602 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12603 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12604 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12605 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12606 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12608 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12609 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12610 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12611 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12613 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12614 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12615 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12616 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12618 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12619 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12620 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12622 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12623 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12624 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12625 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12628 @node Home Score File
12629 @section Home Score File
12631 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12632 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12633 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12634 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12636 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12637 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12638 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12640 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12641 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12646 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12650 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12651 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12655 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12659 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12660 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12663 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12664 the home score file.
12667 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12670 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12675 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12678 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12679 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12682 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12683 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12686 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12687 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12690 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12692 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12693 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12694 their own home score files:
12697 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12698 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12699 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12700 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12701 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
12704 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12705 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12706 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12707 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12708 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12710 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12711 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12712 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
12713 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
12714 precedence over this variable.
12717 @node Followups To Yourself
12718 @section Followups To Yourself
12720 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
12721 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
12722 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
12723 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
12724 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
12725 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
12729 @item gnus-score-followup-article
12730 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
12731 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
12734 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
12735 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
12736 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
12740 @vindex message-sent-hook
12741 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
12742 @code{message-sent-hook}.
12744 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
12745 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
12749 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12750 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12753 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
12754 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
12759 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
12763 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
12764 is system-dependent.
12768 @section Scoring Tips
12769 @cindex scoring tips
12775 @cindex scoring crossposts
12776 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
12777 the @code{Xref} header.
12779 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
12782 @item Multiple crossposts
12783 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
12784 more than, say, 3 groups:
12786 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
12789 @item Matching on the body
12790 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
12791 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
12792 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
12793 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
12794 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
12795 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
12796 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
12799 @item Marking as read
12800 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
12801 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
12802 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
12806 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
12808 @item Negated character classes
12809 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
12810 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
12811 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
12815 @node Reverse Scoring
12816 @section Reverse Scoring
12817 @cindex reverse scoring
12819 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
12820 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
12821 like this in your score file:
12825 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
12830 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
12831 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
12834 @node Global Score Files
12835 @section Global Score Files
12836 @cindex global score files
12838 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
12839 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
12840 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
12842 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
12843 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
12844 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
12846 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
12847 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
12848 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
12849 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
12850 files are applicable to which group.
12852 Say you want to use the score file
12853 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
12854 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
12857 (setq gnus-global-score-files
12858 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
12859 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
12862 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
12863 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
12864 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
12865 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
12866 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
12868 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
12869 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
12871 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
12872 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
12873 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
12874 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
12875 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
12876 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
12878 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
12884 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
12886 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
12888 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
12890 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
12891 lowered out of existence.
12893 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
12894 articles completely.
12897 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
12898 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
12899 old articles for a long time.
12902 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
12903 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
12904 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
12905 holding our breath yet?
12909 @section Kill Files
12912 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
12913 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
12914 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
12916 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
12917 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
12918 files into score files.
12920 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
12921 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
12922 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
12923 that isn't a very good idea.
12925 Normal kill files look like this:
12928 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12929 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
12933 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
12934 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
12936 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
12937 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
12940 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
12945 @kindex M-k (Summary)
12946 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
12947 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
12950 @kindex M-K (Summary)
12951 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
12952 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
12955 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
12960 @kindex M-k (Group)
12961 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
12962 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
12965 @kindex M-K (Group)
12966 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
12967 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
12970 Kill file variables:
12973 @item gnus-kill-file-name
12974 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
12975 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
12976 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
12977 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
12978 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
12979 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
12981 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
12982 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
12983 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
12984 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
12987 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
12988 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
12989 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
12990 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
12991 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
12992 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
12993 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
12994 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
12995 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
12997 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
12998 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
12999 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13004 @node Converting Kill Files
13005 @section Converting Kill Files
13007 @cindex converting kill files
13009 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13010 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13011 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13014 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13015 You can fetch it from
13016 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13018 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13019 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13020 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13028 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13029 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13030 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13032 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13033 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13034 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13035 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13036 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13037 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13038 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13039 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13043 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13044 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13045 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13046 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13050 @node Using GroupLens
13051 @subsection Using GroupLens
13053 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13055 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13056 better bit in town at the moment.
13058 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13062 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13063 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13064 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13065 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13067 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13068 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13069 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13070 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13072 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13073 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13074 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13078 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13079 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13080 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13081 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13082 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13083 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13086 @node Rating Articles
13087 @subsection Rating Articles
13089 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13090 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13091 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13092 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13095 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13100 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13101 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13102 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13105 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13106 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13107 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13108 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13109 threads in rec.humor.
13113 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13114 the score of the article you're reading.
13119 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13120 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13121 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13124 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13125 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13126 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13130 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13131 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13134 @node Displaying Predictions
13135 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13137 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13138 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13139 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13140 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13141 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13143 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13144 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13145 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13146 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13147 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13148 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13149 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13150 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13151 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13152 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13153 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13154 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13155 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13157 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13158 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13159 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13160 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13162 The following are valid values for that variable.
13165 @item prediction-spot
13166 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13169 @item confidence-interval
13170 A numeric confidence interval.
13172 @item prediction-bar
13173 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13175 @item confidence-bar
13176 Numerical confidence.
13178 @item confidence-spot
13179 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13181 @item prediction-num
13182 Plain-old numeric value.
13184 @item confidence-plus-minus
13185 Prediction +/- confidence.
13190 @node GroupLens Variables
13191 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13195 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13196 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13197 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13198 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13201 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13202 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13205 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13206 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13208 @item grouplens-score-offset
13209 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13210 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13213 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13214 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13215 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13220 @node Advanced Scoring
13221 @section Advanced Scoring
13223 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13224 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13225 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13226 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13227 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13229 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13233 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13234 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13235 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13239 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13240 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13242 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13243 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13244 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13245 non-@code{nil} value.
13247 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13248 operator, and various match operators.
13255 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13256 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13257 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13262 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13263 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13264 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13269 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13270 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13274 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13275 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13276 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13277 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13278 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13279 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13280 the ancestry you want to go.
13282 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13283 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13284 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13285 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13286 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13289 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13290 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13292 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13293 when he's talking about Gnus:
13297 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13298 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13304 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13308 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13315 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13316 really don't want to read what he's written:
13320 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13321 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13325 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13326 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13327 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13334 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13335 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13336 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13337 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13341 The possibilities are endless.
13344 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13345 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13347 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13348 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13349 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13350 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13351 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13352 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13353 @samp{subject}) first.
13355 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13356 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13367 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13368 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13374 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13381 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13382 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13387 @section Score Decays
13388 @cindex score decays
13391 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13392 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13393 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13394 use them in any sensible way.
13396 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13397 @findex gnus-decay-score
13398 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
13399 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13400 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13401 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13402 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13403 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
13404 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13405 definition of that function:
13408 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13409 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant' and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13412 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13414 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13416 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13419 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13420 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13421 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13422 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13426 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13429 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13432 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13436 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13437 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13438 the new score, which should be an integer.
13440 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13441 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13448 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13449 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13450 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13451 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13452 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13453 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13454 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13455 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13456 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13457 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13458 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13459 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13460 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13461 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13462 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13463 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13464 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolited commercial email.
13465 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13469 @node Process/Prefix
13470 @section Process/Prefix
13471 @cindex process/prefix convention
13473 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13474 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13476 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13477 command to be performed on.
13481 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13482 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13483 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13484 with the current one.
13486 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13487 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13488 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13490 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13491 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13494 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13495 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13497 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13500 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13501 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13502 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13503 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13505 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13506 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13507 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13508 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13509 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13510 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13511 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13512 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13516 @section Interactive
13517 @cindex interaction
13521 @item gnus-novice-user
13522 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13523 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13524 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13525 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13526 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13529 @item gnus-expert-user
13530 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13531 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13532 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13533 matter how strange.
13535 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13536 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13537 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13538 is @code{t} by default.
13540 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13541 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13542 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13547 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13548 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13549 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13551 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13552 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four charaters forward, and
13553 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13554 rule of 900 to the current article.
13556 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13557 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13558 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13559 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13560 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13561 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13562 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13564 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13565 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13566 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13567 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13568 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13569 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13570 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13571 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13572 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13574 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13575 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13576 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13578 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13582 @node Formatting Variables
13583 @section Formatting Variables
13584 @cindex formatting variables
13586 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13587 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13588 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13589 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13592 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13593 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13594 lots of percentages everywhere.
13597 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13598 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13599 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13600 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13603 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13604 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13605 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13606 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13607 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13608 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13609 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13610 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13612 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13613 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13615 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13616 @findex gnus-update-format
13617 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13618 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13619 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13620 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13624 @node Formatting Basics
13625 @subsection Formatting Basics
13627 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13628 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13629 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13631 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13632 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13633 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13634 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13635 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13638 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13639 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13640 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13641 less than 4 characters wide.
13644 @node Advanced Formatting
13645 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13647 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13648 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13649 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13650 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13652 These are the valid modifiers:
13657 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13661 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13666 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13669 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13674 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13677 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13680 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13683 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
13687 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
13688 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
13689 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
13690 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
13691 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
13692 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
13693 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
13695 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
13696 last operation, padding.
13698 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
13699 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
13700 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
13701 @xref{Compilation}.
13704 @node User-Defined Specs
13705 @subsection User-Defined Specs
13707 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
13708 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
13709 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
13710 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
13711 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
13712 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
13713 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
13714 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
13715 should protect against that.
13717 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
13718 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
13719 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
13720 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
13724 @node Formatting Fonts
13725 @subsection Formatting Fonts
13727 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
13728 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
13729 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
13730 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
13733 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
13734 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
13735 default. If you say @samp{%1[}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
13736 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
13737 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
13738 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
13740 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
13743 ;; Create three face types.
13744 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
13745 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
13747 ;; We want the article count to be in
13748 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
13749 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
13750 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
13752 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
13753 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
13755 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
13756 (setq gnus-group-line-format
13757 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
13760 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
13761 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
13763 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
13764 mode-line variables.
13767 @node Windows Configuration
13768 @section Windows Configuration
13769 @cindex windows configuration
13771 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
13773 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
13774 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
13775 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
13776 @code{t} by default.
13778 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
13779 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
13780 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
13783 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
13784 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
13785 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13789 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
13790 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
13791 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
13792 possible names is listed below.
13794 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
13795 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
13798 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13802 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
13803 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
13804 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
13805 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
13806 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
13807 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
13808 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
13809 size spec per split.
13811 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
13812 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
13813 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
13814 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
13815 present) gets focus.
13817 Here's a more complicated example:
13820 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
13821 (summary 0.25 point)
13822 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
13826 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
13827 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
13828 occupy, not a percentage.
13830 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
13831 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
13832 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
13833 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
13834 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
13837 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
13840 (article (horizontal 1.0
13845 (summary 0.25 point)
13850 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
13851 @code{horizontal} thingie?
13853 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
13854 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
13855 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
13856 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
13857 the screen is to be given to this strip.
13859 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
13860 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
13861 lines from the splits.
13863 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
13867 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
13868 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
13869 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
13870 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
13871 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
13872 size = number | frame-params
13873 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
13876 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
13877 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
13878 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
13879 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
13881 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
13882 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
13883 @cindex window height
13884 @cindex window width
13885 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
13886 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
13887 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
13888 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
13889 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
13890 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
13892 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
13893 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
13894 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
13895 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
13897 @findex gnus-configure-frame
13898 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
13899 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
13900 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
13901 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
13902 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
13903 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
13904 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
13905 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
13906 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
13907 configuration list.
13910 (gnus-configure-frame
13914 (article 0.3 point))
13922 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
13923 @code{frame} split:
13926 (gnus-configure-frame
13929 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
13931 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
13932 (user-position . t)
13933 (left . -1) (top . 1))
13938 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
13939 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
13940 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
13941 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
13942 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
13943 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
13944 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
13945 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
13948 Here's a list of all possible keys for
13949 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
13951 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
13952 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
13953 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
13954 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
13955 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
13956 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
13958 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
13959 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
13960 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
13964 (message (horizontal 1.0
13965 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
13967 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
13972 @findex gnus-add-configuration
13973 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
13974 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
13975 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
13976 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
13979 (gnus-add-configuration
13980 '(article (vertical 1.0
13982 (summary .25 point)
13986 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
13987 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
13988 Gnus has been loaded.
13990 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
13991 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
13992 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
13993 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
13994 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
13997 @node Faces and Fonts
13998 @section Faces and Fonts
14003 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14004 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14005 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14010 @section Compilation
14011 @cindex compilation
14012 @cindex byte-compilation
14014 @findex gnus-compile
14016 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14017 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14018 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14019 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14020 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14021 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14024 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14025 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14026 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14027 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14028 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14029 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14030 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14034 @section Mode Lines
14037 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14038 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14039 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14040 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14041 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14042 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14043 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14046 @cindex display-time
14048 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14049 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14050 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14051 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14052 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14053 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14054 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14055 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14058 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14060 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14061 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14063 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14064 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14065 (length display-time-string)))))
14068 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14069 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14070 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14071 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14072 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14075 @node Highlighting and Menus
14076 @section Highlighting and Menus
14078 @cindex highlighting
14081 @vindex gnus-visual
14082 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14083 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14084 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14087 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14088 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14091 @item group-highlight
14092 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14093 @item summary-highlight
14094 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14095 @item article-highlight
14096 Do highlights in the article buffer.
14098 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14100 Create menus in the group buffer.
14102 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14104 Create menus in the article buffer.
14106 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14108 Create menus in the server buffer.
14110 Create menus in the score buffers.
14112 Create menus in all buffers.
14115 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14116 buffers, you could say something like:
14119 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14122 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14125 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14128 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14129 in all Gnus buffers.
14131 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14134 @item gnus-mouse-face
14135 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14136 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14137 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14141 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14145 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14146 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14147 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14149 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14150 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14151 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14153 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14154 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14155 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14157 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14158 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14159 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14161 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14162 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14163 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14165 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14166 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14167 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14178 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14179 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14180 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14181 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14182 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14186 @vindex gnus-carpal
14187 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14188 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14189 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14194 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14195 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14196 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14198 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14199 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14200 Face used on buttons.
14202 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14203 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14204 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14206 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14207 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14208 Buttons in the group buffer.
14210 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14211 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14212 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14214 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14215 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14216 Buttons in the server buffer.
14218 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14219 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14220 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14223 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14224 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14225 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14233 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14234 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14235 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14236 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14237 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14239 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14240 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14241 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14243 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14244 been idle for thirty minutes:
14247 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14250 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14254 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14257 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14258 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14259 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14261 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14262 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14263 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14264 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14266 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14267 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14268 @var{idle} minutes.
14270 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14271 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14274 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14275 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14276 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14278 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14279 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14280 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14281 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14283 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14284 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14285 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14287 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14288 your @file{.gnus} file:
14290 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14292 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14295 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14296 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14297 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14298 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14299 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14300 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14301 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14302 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14303 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14304 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14305 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14307 @findex gnus-demon-init
14308 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14309 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14310 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14311 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14312 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14314 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
14315 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14316 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14325 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14326 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14328 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14329 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14330 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14331 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14334 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14335 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14336 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14337 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14339 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14340 this will make spam disappear.
14342 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14345 @item gnus-use-nocem
14346 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14347 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14350 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14351 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14352 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14353 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14354 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14356 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14357 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14358 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14359 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14360 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14361 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14362 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14364 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14367 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14368 @cindex Chris Lewis
14369 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14370 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14373 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14374 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14375 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14377 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14379 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14382 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14383 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14384 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14387 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14388 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14389 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14390 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14391 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14392 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14393 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14394 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14395 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14396 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14398 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14399 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14402 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14405 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14406 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14409 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14412 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14415 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14416 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14418 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14419 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14420 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14421 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14423 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14424 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14427 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14429 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14437 This might be dangerous, though.
14439 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14440 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14441 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14442 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14444 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14445 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14446 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14447 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14448 might then see old spam.
14452 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14453 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14454 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14455 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14462 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14463 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14464 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14466 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14467 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14468 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14469 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14470 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14471 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14472 @code{undo} function.
14474 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14475 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14476 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14477 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14478 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14479 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14480 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14481 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14482 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14483 never be totally undoable.
14485 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14486 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14488 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14489 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14490 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14491 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14496 @section Moderation
14499 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14500 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14501 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14504 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14508 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14511 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14513 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14518 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14519 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14520 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14523 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14524 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14527 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14528 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14532 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14535 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14536 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14540 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14541 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14544 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14548 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14549 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14550 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14551 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14564 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14565 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14566 over your shoulder as you read news.
14569 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14570 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14571 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14572 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14573 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14578 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14580 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14589 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14590 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14591 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14592 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14593 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14594 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14595 @code{GIF} formats.
14598 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14599 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14600 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14601 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string
14602 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14604 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14605 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14606 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at
14607 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14608 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14609 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14612 @node Picon Requirements
14613 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14615 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14616 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14619 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14620 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14621 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14623 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14624 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14625 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14626 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14627 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14631 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14633 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14634 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14637 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14638 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14639 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14642 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14643 containing the Picons databases.
14645 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14648 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14653 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14661 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14662 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14663 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14664 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14665 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14670 @item gnus-picons-database
14671 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14672 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14673 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14674 subdirectories. This is only useful if
14675 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
14676 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
14678 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14679 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14680 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
14681 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
14682 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
14683 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
14684 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14686 @item gnus-picons-display-where
14687 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14688 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
14689 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
14690 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
14691 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
14692 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
14693 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
14695 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14696 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14697 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
14702 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
14703 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
14705 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
14706 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
14709 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
14710 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14712 @item gnus-article-display-picons
14713 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14714 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
14715 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
14716 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14718 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
14719 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14720 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
14721 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14725 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
14726 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
14729 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14733 @node Picon Useless Configuration
14734 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
14742 The following variables offer further control over how things are
14743 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
14744 don't need to worry about.
14748 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
14749 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
14750 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14751 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
14753 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
14754 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
14755 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
14756 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
14758 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
14759 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
14760 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14761 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
14762 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
14764 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14765 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14766 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
14767 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
14768 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
14769 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
14770 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
14772 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14773 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14774 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
14775 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
14777 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14778 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14779 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
14780 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
14781 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
14782 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
14783 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
14785 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14786 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14787 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
14788 Defaults to @code{nil}.
14790 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
14791 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
14792 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
14793 Defaults to @code{t}.
14795 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14796 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14797 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
14798 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
14800 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14801 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14802 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
14803 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
14805 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14806 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14807 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
14808 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
14809 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
14810 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
14811 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
14812 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
14823 @subsection Smileys
14828 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
14833 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
14834 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
14836 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
14837 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14840 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
14843 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
14844 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
14845 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
14846 text and maps that to file names.
14848 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
14849 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
14850 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
14851 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
14852 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
14853 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
14855 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
14856 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
14858 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
14859 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
14860 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
14862 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
14863 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
14867 @item smiley-data-directory
14868 @vindex smiley-data-directory
14869 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
14871 @item smiley-flesh-color
14872 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
14873 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
14875 @item smiley-features-color
14876 @vindex smiley-features-color
14877 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14879 @item smiley-tongue-color
14880 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
14881 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
14883 @item smiley-circle-color
14884 @vindex smiley-circle-color
14885 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14887 @item smiley-mouse-face
14888 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
14889 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
14895 @subsection Toolbar
14905 @item gnus-use-toolbar
14906 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
14907 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
14908 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
14909 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
14911 @item gnus-group-toolbar
14912 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
14913 The toolbar in the group buffer.
14915 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
14916 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
14917 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
14919 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14920 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14921 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
14927 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
14930 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14931 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14932 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
14933 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
14934 unusual directory structure.
14936 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14937 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14938 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
14939 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
14941 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14942 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14943 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
14944 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
14945 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
14946 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
14948 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14949 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14950 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
14964 @node Fuzzy Matching
14965 @section Fuzzy Matching
14966 @cindex fuzzy matching
14968 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
14969 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
14971 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
14972 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
14973 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
14975 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
14976 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
14977 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
14978 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
14979 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
14982 @node Thwarting Email Spam
14983 @section Thwarting Email Spam
14987 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
14989 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
14990 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
14991 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
14992 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
14993 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
14994 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
14995 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
14996 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
14999 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15000 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15001 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15002 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15003 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrouos hair on your toes!'')
15004 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15008 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15009 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15011 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15012 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15013 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15014 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15015 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15016 part of the mail address.)
15019 (setq message-default-news-headers
15020 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15023 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15024 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15029 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15030 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15031 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15037 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15038 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15039 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15040 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15042 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15043 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15044 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15045 twarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15046 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15047 your fancy split rule in this way:
15052 (to "larsi" "misc")
15056 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15057 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15058 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15059 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15060 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15062 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15063 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, availiable FOR FREE
15064 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15065 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15066 cosmic balance somewhat.
15068 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15069 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15070 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15071 to non-existant domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15074 @node Various Various
15075 @section Various Various
15081 @item gnus-home-directory
15082 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15083 defaults to @file{~/}.
15085 @item gnus-directory
15086 @vindex gnus-directory
15087 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15088 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15089 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15091 @item gnus-default-directory
15092 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15093 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15094 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15095 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15096 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15097 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15098 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15101 @vindex gnus-verbose
15102 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15103 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15104 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15105 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15106 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15108 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15109 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15110 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15111 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15113 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15114 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15115 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15116 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15117 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15118 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15119 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15120 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15121 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15122 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15124 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15125 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15126 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15127 read when doing the operation described above.
15129 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15130 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15132 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15133 @cindex characters in file names
15134 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15135 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15136 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15139 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15143 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15144 Windows (phooey) systems.
15146 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15147 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15148 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15149 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15150 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15152 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15153 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15154 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15155 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15156 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15158 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15159 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15160 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15169 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15170 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15172 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15174 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15180 Not because of victories @*
15183 but for the common sunshine,@*
15185 the largess of the spring.
15189 but for the day's work done@*
15190 as well as I was able;@*
15191 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15192 but at the common table.@*
15197 @chapter Appendices
15200 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15201 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15202 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15203 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15204 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15205 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15206 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15214 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15215 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15217 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15218 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15219 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15220 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15221 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15223 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15224 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15225 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15226 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15227 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15228 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15230 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15231 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15232 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15233 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15235 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15236 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15237 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15239 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15240 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15242 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15243 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
15245 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15246 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15247 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15248 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15249 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15253 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15254 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15255 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15256 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15257 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15258 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15259 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15266 What's the point of Gnus?
15268 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15269 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15270 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15271 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15272 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15273 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15274 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15275 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15276 keep track of millions of people who post?
15278 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15279 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15280 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15281 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15282 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15283 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15284 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15285 every one of you to explore and invent.
15287 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15288 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15291 @node Compatibility
15292 @subsection Compatibility
15294 @cindex compatibility
15295 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15296 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15297 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15302 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15306 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15309 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15312 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15313 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15314 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15315 important variables have their values copied into their global
15316 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15317 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15319 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15320 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15321 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15322 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15323 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15327 @cindex highlighting
15328 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15329 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15330 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15331 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15332 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15333 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15336 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15337 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15338 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15339 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15341 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15342 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15343 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15344 to stop doing it the old way.
15346 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15348 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15350 @cindex reporting bugs
15352 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15353 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15354 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15358 @subsection Conformity
15360 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15361 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15368 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15372 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15374 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15375 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15376 We do have some breaches to this one.
15381 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
15382 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15385 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15386 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15387 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15388 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15389 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15394 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15395 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15400 @subsection Emacsen
15406 Gnus should work on :
15411 Emacs 19.32 and up.
15414 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
15417 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
15421 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15422 reliably, at least.
15424 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15425 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15426 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15431 @subsection Contributors
15432 @cindex contributors
15434 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15435 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15436 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15437 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15438 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15439 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15440 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15441 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15442 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15443 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15445 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15451 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15454 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15455 well as numerous other things).
15458 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15461 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15464 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15465 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15468 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15471 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15472 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15475 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15478 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15481 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15484 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15487 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15488 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15491 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15494 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15497 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15500 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15504 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15507 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15510 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15513 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15514 well as autoconf support.
15518 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15519 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15521 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15530 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15534 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15553 Massimo Campostrini,
15558 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15564 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15567 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15571 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15576 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15578 Michelangelo Grigni,
15581 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15583 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15588 François Felix Ingrand,
15589 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15591 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15599 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15600 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15601 Thor Kristoffersen,
15603 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15619 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15620 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15627 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15631 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15633 John McClary Prevost,
15636 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
15641 Christian von Roques,
15648 Philippe Schnoebelen,
15649 Randal L. Schwartz,
15676 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
15678 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
15680 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
15681 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
15682 (550kB and counting).
15684 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
15687 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
15688 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
15692 @subsection New Features
15693 @cindex new features
15696 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
15697 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
15698 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
15699 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Semi-gnus 6.1.2.
15702 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
15703 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
15704 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
15708 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
15710 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
15715 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
15716 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
15719 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
15720 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
15723 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
15726 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
15727 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
15728 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15731 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
15732 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
15733 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
15734 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15737 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
15738 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15741 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
15742 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
15743 (@pxref{The Active File}).
15746 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
15747 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
15750 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
15751 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
15752 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15755 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
15756 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
15757 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
15760 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
15761 the @file{.emacs} file.
15764 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
15765 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15768 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
15769 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
15772 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
15773 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15776 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
15777 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
15780 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
15781 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15784 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
15787 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
15788 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
15791 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
15792 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
15795 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
15796 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
15799 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
15802 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
15803 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15806 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
15810 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
15814 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
15815 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
15818 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
15824 @node September Gnus
15825 @subsubsection September Gnus
15829 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
15833 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
15838 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
15839 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
15843 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
15844 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
15848 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
15852 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
15853 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
15856 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
15860 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15863 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
15866 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
15869 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
15873 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
15874 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
15877 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
15881 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
15885 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
15889 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
15893 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
15896 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
15897 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
15900 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
15904 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
15905 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
15908 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
15911 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
15912 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
15913 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15916 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
15920 The Gnus cache is much faster.
15923 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
15927 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
15928 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15931 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
15932 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
15935 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
15936 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15939 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
15940 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
15941 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
15944 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
15945 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
15948 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
15951 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
15954 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15955 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
15959 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
15962 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
15965 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
15966 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
15969 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
15973 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
15976 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
15981 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
15984 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
15988 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15991 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
15995 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
15998 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16001 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16002 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16005 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16006 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16010 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16011 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16014 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16018 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16019 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16022 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16025 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16029 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16033 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16034 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16037 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16041 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16042 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16045 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16046 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16049 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16053 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16056 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16057 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16061 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16064 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16070 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16072 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16076 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16083 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16086 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16087 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16090 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16091 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16095 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16096 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16099 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16102 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16103 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16106 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16110 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16111 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16115 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16116 Server Internals}).
16119 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16123 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16126 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16127 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16130 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16131 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16132 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16135 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16136 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16139 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16140 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16143 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16147 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16148 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16151 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16152 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16155 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16159 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16162 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16166 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16167 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16170 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16171 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16174 A new command for reading collections of documents
16175 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16176 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16179 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16183 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16184 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16187 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16188 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16189 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16192 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16193 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16197 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16201 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16205 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16210 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16214 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16218 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16219 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16222 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16225 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16232 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16234 New features in Semi-gnus 6.1.2:
16239 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16240 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16241 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16244 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16245 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16246 group, which is created automatically.
16249 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16253 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16256 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16257 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16260 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16264 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16267 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16268 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16271 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16274 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16275 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16278 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16279 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16282 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16283 control over simplification.
16286 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16289 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16293 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16296 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16299 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16300 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16301 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16304 Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16305 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16308 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16312 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16313 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16316 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16317 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16320 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16324 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16327 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16330 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16331 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16334 A new function for citing in Message has been
16335 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16338 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16341 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16345 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16346 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16349 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16350 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16353 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16356 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16361 @node Newest Features
16362 @subsection Newest Features
16365 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16368 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16370 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16371 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16374 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16379 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16382 Really do unbinhexing.
16385 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16386 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16389 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16392 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16395 facep is not declared.
16398 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16399 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16402 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16407 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16408 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16409 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16410 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16411 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16412 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16413 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16418 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16421 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16424 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16426 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16427 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16429 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16431 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16433 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16434 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16436 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16438 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16439 be marked as unread.
16441 Orphan score entries dont show on "V t" score trace
16443 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16445 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16446 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16448 expinged articles are counted when computing scores.
16450 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16452 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16453 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16455 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16456 articles aren't displayed.
16458 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16460 implement gnus-score-thread
16462 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16463 make the mail groups killed.
16465 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16467 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16468 and articles have to be removed.
16470 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16473 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16475 finding short score file names takes forever.
16477 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16479 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16481 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16483 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16485 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16487 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16489 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16490 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16494 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16496 really unbinhex binhex files.
16498 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16499 bar and the Gnus bar.
16502 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16503 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16504 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16505 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16506 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16507 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16512 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16516 postponed commands.
16518 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16520 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16523 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16524 headers of the oldest orhpan with a 0 article number?
16526 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16527 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16529 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16531 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16532 for backends that support that.
16534 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16536 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16537 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16539 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16540 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16542 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16544 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16546 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16548 server mode command: close/open all connections
16550 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16551 has been changed before using it.
16553 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16555 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16557 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16559 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16561 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16562 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16564 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16565 contaion groups that match a regexp.
16567 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16570 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16573 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16574 from subject lines.
16576 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16578 nntp-ping-before-connect
16580 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16582 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16583 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16585 message annotations.
16587 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16589 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16590 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16592 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16597 support qmail maildir spools
16599 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16601 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16603 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16605 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16606 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16608 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16610 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16612 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16613 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16615 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16616 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16618 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16620 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16622 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16623 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16625 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16627 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16629 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16630 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16633 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16635 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
16637 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
16638 `C-c C-c' when posting.
16640 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
16643 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
16644 should be marker as expirable.
16646 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
16648 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
16649 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
16651 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
16652 Also consult Date headers.
16654 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
16656 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
16658 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
16659 Message-ID, delete the "original".
16661 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
16662 into a See-Also header.
16664 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
16666 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
16668 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
16669 should be listed as such and not as "K".
16671 generate font names dynamically.
16673 score file mode auto-alist.
16675 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
16676 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
16678 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
16679 absolutely all headers there is.
16681 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
16682 and pipe them to the process.
16684 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
16685 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
16686 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
16688 function for starting to edit a file to put into
16689 the current mail group.
16691 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
16693 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
16694 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
16696 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
16697 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
16699 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
16701 when replying to several process-marked articles,
16702 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
16704 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
16705 groups it has been mailed to.
16707 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
16709 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
16711 Command in the group buffer to respoll process-marked groups.
16713 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
16714 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
16716 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
16717 newlines) should be ignored.
16719 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
16720 groups in subtopics as well.
16722 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
16724 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
16727 add edit and forward secondary marks.
16729 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
16731 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
16733 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
16735 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
16737 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
16739 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
16740 or the formatted article.
16742 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
16744 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
16745 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
16747 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
16749 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
16751 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
16753 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
16754 even unread articles.
16756 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
16758 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
16760 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
16762 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
16764 cancelling articles in foreign groups.
16766 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
16769 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
16770 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
16772 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
16773 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
16775 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
16777 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
16779 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
16780 from a particular server? Hm.
16782 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
16783 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
16785 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
16787 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
16788 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
16790 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
16791 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
16793 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
16794 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
16795 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
16798 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
16799 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
16801 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
16803 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
16805 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
16807 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
16810 when following up mulitple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
16813 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
16814 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
16816 command to show and edit group scores
16818 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
16821 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
16823 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
16825 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
16826 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
16829 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
16830 that are of that length.
16832 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
16834 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
16836 asynchronous posting under nntp.
16838 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
16840 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
16842 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
16844 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
16845 a score lower than this number.
16847 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
16849 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
16851 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
16852 so that each copy can be edited separately.
16854 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
16856 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
16857 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
16859 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
16862 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
16863 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
16864 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
16865 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
16867 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
16870 command to remove all topic stuff.
16872 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
16873 and splitting the resulting digests.
16875 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
16877 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
16879 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
16880 matches an alist -- before saving.
16882 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
16884 variable to activate each group before entering them
16885 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
16887 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
16888 starting Gnus first if necessary.
16890 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
16891 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
16893 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
16895 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
16896 of several groups at once.
16898 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
16899 matches some regexp(s).
16901 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
16903 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
16905 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
16907 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
16909 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
16911 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
16913 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
16915 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
16916 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
16917 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
16918 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
16920 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
16921 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
16923 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
16925 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
16926 recently cited text.
16928 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
16930 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
16933 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
16934 server and just read the articles in the server
16936 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
16937 value of nnoo variables.
16939 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
16941 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
16942 listed in each group info.
16944 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
16947 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
16948 should only be applied to some groups.
16950 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
16951 mail-copies-to: never.
16953 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
16954 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
16956 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
16958 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
16961 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
16964 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where appliccable.
16966 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
16969 group user-defined meta-parameters.
16973 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
16975 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
16976 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
16977 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
16978 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
16979 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
16981 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at
16982 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
16989 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
16990 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
16992 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
16993 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
16995 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
16996 "Return the date the group was last read."
16997 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17002 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17003 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17004 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17005 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17009 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17010 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17012 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17015 They could be used like this:
17019 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17020 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17021 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17023 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17025 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17028 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17031 One could also immagine the labels being used for highliting, or
17032 affect the summary line format.
17036 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17038 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17039 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17041 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17044 - For other directories, create a nneething summaru buffer.
17046 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17048 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17050 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17052 - For other files, just find them normally.
17054 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17055 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17058 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17059 tell him what you are doing.
17062 Currently, I get prompted:
17066 decend into sci.something ?
17070 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17071 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only decending sci.something? If
17072 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17073 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17076 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17077 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17078 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17079 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17082 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17083 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17089 more than n blank lines
17091 more than m identical lines
17092 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17094 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17098 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17099 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17100 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17101 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17104 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17105 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17106 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17107 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17110 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17113 soup - bowl of soup
17114 score below - dim light bulb
17115 score over - bright light bulb
17118 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17123 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17124 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17125 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17126 if (articles-selected)
17127 start-reading-selected-articles;
17128 junk-unread-articles;
17133 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17134 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17135 select-thread-under-cursor;
17137 select-article-under-cursor;
17141 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17142 if (more-pages-in-article)
17144 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17151 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17152 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17153 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17156 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17157 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17158 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17159 the wildcard expression).
17162 It would be nice if it also handled
17164 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17166 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17171 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17172 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17173 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17174 article versions) variable.
17176 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17178 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17179 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17183 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17186 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17187 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17188 (message-sent-hook).
17190 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17193 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17197 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17198 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17201 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17202 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17203 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17206 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17207 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17211 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17214 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17218 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17219 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17222 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17223 value of the signature file.
17226 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17227 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17230 (setq message-tab-alist
17231 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17232 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17234 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17238 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17241 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17244 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17247 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17248 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17251 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17254 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17255 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17256 do more gathering by subject.
17259 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17260 article numerical order.
17263 (gnus-thread-total-score
17264 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17268 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17271 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17272 in the summary buffer.
17275 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17276 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17279 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17280 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17281 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17282 and/or newsgroup name.
17285 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17288 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17291 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17294 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17295 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17296 will automatically get the process mark.
17299 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17300 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17301 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17304 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17308 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17309 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17312 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17313 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17317 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17318 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17321 be able to post via DejaNews.
17324 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17327 allow the user to specify the presedence of the secondary marks. Also
17328 allow them to be displayed separately.
17331 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17332 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17335 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17336 articles that match a certain From header.
17339 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17340 saving living summary buffers.
17343 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17344 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17347 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17348 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17351 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17352 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17355 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17356 (goto-char (point-min))
17357 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17358 (replace-match "`" t t))
17359 (goto-char (point-min))
17360 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17361 (replace-match "'" t t))
17362 (goto-char (point-min))
17363 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17364 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17365 (goto-char (point-min))
17366 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17367 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17372 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17374 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17375 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17376 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17377 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17381 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17384 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17385 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17388 gnus-cacheable-groups
17392 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17393 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17394 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17396 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17397 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17399 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17400 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17405 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17406 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17409 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17410 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
17412 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17414 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17415 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17418 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17419 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17422 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17426 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17427 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17430 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17433 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17436 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17439 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17443 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17449 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17452 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17456 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17457 X characters in the body.
17460 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17463 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17466 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17469 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17472 command to display all dormant articles.
17475 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17478 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17479 to something someone else has said.
17482 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17483 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17486 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17487 the displayed version.
17490 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17494 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17497 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17498 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17499 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17503 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17504 in the head or body.
17507 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17510 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17513 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17514 in a special, unique buffer.
17517 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17520 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17521 is less than a certain number of days old.
17524 Solve the halting problem.
17533 @section The Manual
17537 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17538 either @code{texi2dvi}
17540 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17541 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17543 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17545 The following conventions have been used:
17550 This is a @samp{string}
17553 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17556 This is a @file{file}
17559 This is a @code{symbol}
17563 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17567 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17570 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17573 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17576 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17577 ever get them confused.
17581 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17582 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17583 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17584 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17585 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17586 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17587 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
17595 @section Terminology
17597 @cindex terminology
17602 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
17603 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
17604 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
17605 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
17606 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
17610 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
17611 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
17612 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
17613 not posting, and replying is not following up.
17617 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
17621 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
17626 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
17627 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
17628 is all done by the backends.
17632 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
17633 default, way of getting news.
17637 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
17638 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
17643 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
17644 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
17648 A message that has been posted as news.
17651 @cindex mail message
17652 A message that has been mailed.
17656 A mail message or news article
17660 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
17665 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
17670 A line from the head of an article.
17674 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
17675 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
17679 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
17680 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
17681 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
17682 normal @sc{head} format.
17686 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
17687 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
17688 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
17689 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
17690 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
17691 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
17693 @item killed groups
17694 @cindex killed groups
17695 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
17696 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
17698 @item zombie groups
17699 @cindex zombie groups
17700 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
17703 @cindex active file
17704 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
17705 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
17706 is rather large, as you might surmise.
17709 @cindex bogus groups
17710 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
17711 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
17712 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
17715 @cindex activating groups
17716 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
17717 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
17718 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
17722 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
17724 @item select method
17725 @cindex select method
17726 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
17729 @item virtual server
17730 @cindex virtual server
17731 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
17732 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
17733 whole is a virtual server.
17737 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
17738 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
17741 @item ephemeral groups
17742 @cindex ephemeral groups
17743 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
17744 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
17745 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
17748 @cindex solid groups
17749 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
17750 group buffer are solid groups.
17752 @item sparse articles
17753 @cindex sparse articles
17754 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
17755 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
17759 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
17760 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
17764 @cindex thread root
17765 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
17766 articles in the thread.
17770 An article that has responses.
17774 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
17778 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
17779 specified by RFC1153.
17785 @node Customization
17786 @section Customization
17787 @cindex general customization
17789 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
17790 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
17791 for some quite common situations.
17794 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
17795 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
17796 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
17797 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
17801 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
17802 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
17804 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
17805 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
17806 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
17810 @item gnus-read-active-file
17811 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
17812 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
17813 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
17814 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
17815 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
17817 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
17818 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
17819 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
17820 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
17824 @node Slow Terminal Connection
17825 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
17827 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
17828 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
17829 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
17833 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
17834 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
17835 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
17836 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
17837 horizontal and vertical recentering.
17839 @item gnus-visible-headers
17840 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
17841 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
17842 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
17843 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
17845 @item gnus-article-display-hook
17846 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
17848 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
17849 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
17850 gnus-article-hide-citation))
17853 @item gnus-use-full-window
17854 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
17855 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
17856 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
17857 want to read them anyway.
17859 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
17860 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
17863 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
17864 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
17865 lines, which might save some time.
17869 @node Little Disk Space
17870 @subsection Little Disk Space
17873 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
17874 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
17878 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
17879 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
17880 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
17881 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17884 @item gnus-save-killed-list
17885 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
17886 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
17887 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
17888 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
17894 @subsection Slow Machine
17895 @cindex slow machine
17897 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
17898 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
17900 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
17901 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
17903 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
17904 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
17905 summary buffer faster.
17907 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
17908 processing a bit faster.
17912 @node Troubleshooting
17913 @section Troubleshooting
17914 @cindex troubleshooting
17916 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
17924 Make sure your computer is switched on.
17927 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
17928 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
17932 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
17933 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
17934 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
17935 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
17938 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
17942 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
17943 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
17944 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
17945 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
17946 something like that.
17949 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
17952 @cindex reporting bugs
17954 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17956 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
17957 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
17958 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
17959 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
17961 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
17962 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
17963 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
17964 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
17967 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
17968 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
17969 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
17970 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
17971 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
17972 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
17974 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
17975 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
17976 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
17979 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
17980 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
17982 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
17983 @cindex ding mailing list
17984 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
17985 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
17989 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
17990 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
17992 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
17993 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
17994 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
17995 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
17998 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
17999 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18000 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18001 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18002 and general methods of operation.
18005 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18006 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18007 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18008 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18009 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18010 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18011 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18012 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18013 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18017 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18018 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18019 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18020 @cindex utility functions
18022 @cindex internal variables
18024 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18025 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18026 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18030 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18031 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18032 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18034 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18035 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18036 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18038 @item gnus-group-real-name
18039 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18040 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18043 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18044 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18045 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18046 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18048 @item gnus-get-info
18049 @findex gnus-get-info
18050 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18052 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18053 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18054 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18057 @item gnus-continuum-version
18058 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18059 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18060 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18063 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18064 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18065 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18067 @item gnus-news-group-p
18068 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18069 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18071 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18072 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18073 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18075 @item gnus-server-to-method
18076 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18077 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18079 @item gnus-server-equal
18080 @findex gnus-server-equal
18081 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18083 @item gnus-group-native-p
18084 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18085 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18087 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18088 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18089 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18091 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18092 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18093 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18095 @item group-group-find-parameter
18096 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18097 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18098 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18100 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18101 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18102 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18104 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18105 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18106 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18108 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18109 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18110 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18111 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18114 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18118 @item gnus-read-method
18119 @findex gnus-read-method
18120 Prompts the user for a select method.
18125 @node Backend Interface
18126 @subsection Backend Interface
18128 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18129 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18130 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18131 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18132 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18133 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18135 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18136 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18137 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18138 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18139 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18140 been opened, the function should fail.
18142 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18143 name. Take this example:
18147 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18148 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18151 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18152 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18154 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18155 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18156 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18158 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18159 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18160 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18162 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18163 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18164 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18165 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18166 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18167 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18170 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18171 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18172 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18173 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18176 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18179 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18182 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18183 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18184 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18185 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18186 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18187 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18191 @node Required Backend Functions
18192 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18196 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18198 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18199 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18200 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18201 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18203 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18204 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18205 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18206 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18208 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18209 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18210 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18211 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18212 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18213 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18214 number, do maximum fetches.
18216 Here's an example HEAD:
18219 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18220 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18221 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18222 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18223 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18224 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18225 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18227 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18228 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18229 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18233 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18234 these in the data buffer.
18236 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18240 head = error / valid-head
18241 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18242 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18243 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18244 header = <text> eol
18247 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18248 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18252 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18253 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18254 field = <text except TAB>
18257 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18261 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18263 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18264 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18266 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18267 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18268 server. In fact, it should do so.
18270 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18271 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18274 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18276 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18277 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18280 There should be no data returned.
18283 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18285 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18286 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18287 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18288 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18290 There should be no data returned.
18293 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18295 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18296 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18297 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18298 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18300 There should be no data returned.
18303 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18305 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18307 There should be no data returned.
18310 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18312 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18313 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18314 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18315 it would be nice if that were possible.
18317 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18318 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18319 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18320 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18321 into its article buffer.
18323 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18324 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18325 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18326 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18327 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18328 on successful article retrieval.
18331 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18333 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18334 making @var{group} the current group.
18336 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18339 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18342 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18345 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18346 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18347 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18348 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18349 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18350 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18351 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18352 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18355 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18356 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18357 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18361 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18363 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18364 a no-op on most backends.
18366 There should be no data returned.
18369 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18371 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18374 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18377 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18378 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18381 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18382 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18385 active-file = *active-line
18386 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18388 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18391 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18392 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18393 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18396 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18398 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18399 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18400 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18401 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18402 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18403 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18405 There should be no result data from this function.
18410 @node Optional Backend Functions
18411 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18415 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18417 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18418 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18419 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18421 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18422 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18423 former is in the same format as the data from
18424 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18425 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18428 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18432 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18434 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18435 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18436 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18437 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18438 should return the (altered) group info.
18440 There should be no result data from this function.
18443 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18445 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18446 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18447 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18448 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18449 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18450 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18451 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18452 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18454 There should be no result data from this function.
18457 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18459 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18460 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18461 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18462 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18463 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18465 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18466 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18467 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18470 There should be no result data from this function.
18473 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18475 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18476 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18477 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18478 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18479 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18480 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18481 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18483 There should be no result data from this function.
18486 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18488 The result data from this function should be a description of
18492 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18494 description = <text>
18497 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18499 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18500 groups available on the server.
18503 description-buffer = *description-line
18507 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18509 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18510 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18511 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18514 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18516 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18518 There should be no return data.
18521 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18523 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18524 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18525 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18526 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18527 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18530 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18533 There should be no result data returned.
18536 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18539 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18540 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18542 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18543 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18544 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18545 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18546 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18547 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18549 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18550 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18553 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18554 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18556 There should be no data returned.
18559 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18561 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18562 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18563 this function in short order.
18565 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18566 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18568 There should be no data returned.
18571 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18573 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18574 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18576 There should be no data returned.
18579 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
18581 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
18582 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
18583 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
18585 There should be no data returned.
18588 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
18590 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
18591 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
18593 There should be no data returned.
18598 @node Error Messaging
18599 @subsubsection Error Messaging
18601 @findex nnheader-report
18602 @findex nnheader-get-report
18603 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
18604 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
18605 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
18606 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
18607 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
18608 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
18611 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
18613 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
18616 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
18617 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
18618 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
18619 takes one argument---the server symbol.
18621 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
18622 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
18623 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
18626 @node Writing New Backends
18627 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
18629 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
18630 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
18631 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
18632 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
18633 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
18636 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
18637 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
18638 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
18640 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
18641 package called @code{nnoo}.
18643 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
18644 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
18650 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
18651 parameters. For instance:
18654 (nnoo-declare nndir
18658 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
18659 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
18662 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
18663 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
18664 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
18666 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
18667 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
18668 a function in those backends.
18671 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18672 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18673 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18676 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
18677 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
18678 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
18680 @item nnoo-define-basics
18681 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
18685 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18689 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
18690 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
18691 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
18693 @item nnoo-map-functions
18694 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
18695 functions from the parent backends.
18698 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18699 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18700 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
18703 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
18704 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
18705 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
18706 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
18709 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
18710 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
18711 haven't already been defined.
18717 nnmh-request-newgroups)
18721 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
18722 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
18723 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
18728 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
18731 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
18732 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
18736 (require 'nnheader)
18740 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
18742 (nnoo-declare nndir
18745 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18746 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18747 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18749 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
18750 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
18753 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
18754 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
18755 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
18757 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
18758 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
18760 ;;; Interface functions.
18762 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18764 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
18765 (setq nndir-directory
18766 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
18768 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
18769 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
18770 (push `(nndir-current-group
18771 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18773 (push `(nndir-top-directory
18774 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18776 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
18778 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18779 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18780 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18781 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
18782 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
18786 nnmh-status-message
18788 nnmh-request-newgroups))
18794 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18795 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18797 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
18798 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
18799 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
18800 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
18802 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
18803 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
18808 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
18811 The abilities can be:
18815 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
18817 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
18819 This backend supports both mail and news.
18821 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
18824 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
18825 articles and groups.
18827 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
18828 true for almost all backends.
18829 @item prompt-address
18830 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
18831 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
18832 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
18836 @node Mail-like Backends
18837 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
18839 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
18840 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
18841 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
18842 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
18845 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
18846 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
18847 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
18850 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
18851 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
18854 This function takes four parameters.
18858 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
18861 @item exit-function
18862 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
18864 @item temp-directory
18865 Where the temporary files should be stored.
18868 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
18869 performed for one group only.
18872 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
18873 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
18874 find the article number assigned to this article.
18876 The function also uses the following variables:
18877 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
18878 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
18879 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
18880 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
18884 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
18885 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
18889 @node Score File Syntax
18890 @subsection Score File Syntax
18892 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
18893 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
18894 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
18896 Here's a typical score file:
18900 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
18907 BNF definition of a score file:
18910 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
18911 element = rule / atom
18912 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
18913 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
18914 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
18915 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
18917 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
18918 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
18919 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
18920 date-header = "date"
18921 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18922 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
18923 score = "nil" / <integer>
18924 date = "nil" / <natural number>
18925 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
18926 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
18927 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
18928 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
18929 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18930 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
18931 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
18932 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18933 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
18934 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
18935 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
18936 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
18937 exclude-files / read-only / touched
18938 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
18939 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
18940 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
18941 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
18942 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
18943 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
18944 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
18945 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
18946 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
18947 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
18948 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
18949 eval = "eval" space <form>
18950 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
18953 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
18956 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
18957 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
18958 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
18959 one looong line, then that's ok.
18961 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
18962 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18966 @subsection Headers
18968 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
18969 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
18970 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
18971 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
18973 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
18974 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
18975 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
18976 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
18977 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
18978 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
18979 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
18981 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
18982 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
18983 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
18984 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
18985 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
18987 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
18994 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
18995 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
18997 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
18998 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
18999 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19000 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19002 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19006 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19009 is transformed into
19012 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19015 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19016 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19019 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19022 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19023 is slightly tricky:
19026 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19032 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19035 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19041 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19048 and is equal to the previous range.
19050 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19051 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19052 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19056 range = simple-range / normal-range
19057 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19058 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19059 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19060 number *[ " " contents ]
19063 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19064 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19065 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19066 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19067 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19072 @subsection Group Info
19074 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19075 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19076 describes the group.
19078 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19079 second is a more complex one:
19082 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19084 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19085 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19087 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19090 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19091 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19092 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19093 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19094 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19095 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19096 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19097 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19098 this section is about.
19100 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19101 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19102 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19104 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19107 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19108 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19109 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19110 group = quote <string> quote
19111 ralevel = rank / level
19112 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19113 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19114 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19116 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19117 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19118 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19119 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19122 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19123 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19126 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19127 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19130 @item gnus-info-group
19131 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19132 @findex gnus-info-group
19133 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19134 Get/set the group name.
19136 @item gnus-info-rank
19137 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19138 @findex gnus-info-rank
19139 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19140 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19142 @item gnus-info-level
19143 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19144 @findex gnus-info-level
19145 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19146 Get/set the group level.
19148 @item gnus-info-score
19149 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19150 @findex gnus-info-score
19151 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19152 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19154 @item gnus-info-read
19155 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19156 @findex gnus-info-read
19157 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19158 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19160 @item gnus-info-marks
19161 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19162 @findex gnus-info-marks
19163 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19164 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19166 @item gnus-info-method
19167 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19168 @findex gnus-info-method
19169 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19170 Get/set the group select method.
19172 @item gnus-info-params
19173 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19174 @findex gnus-info-params
19175 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19176 Get/set the group parameters.
19179 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19180 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19182 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19183 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19184 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19185 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19188 @node Extended Interactive
19189 @subsection Extended Interactive
19190 @cindex interactive
19191 @findex gnus-interactive
19193 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19194 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19195 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19198 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19199 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19204 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19205 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19206 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19207 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19208 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19209 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19210 @code{interactive}.
19212 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19217 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19218 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19222 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19223 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19224 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19227 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19231 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19235 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19241 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19242 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19246 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19247 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19248 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19250 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19251 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19252 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19253 Gnus, that's very useful.
19255 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19256 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19257 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19258 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19259 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19260 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19261 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19262 following function:
19265 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19269 (,function ,@@args))
19273 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19274 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19275 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19278 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19279 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19280 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19282 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19283 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19284 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19287 @node Various File Formats
19288 @subsection Various File Formats
19291 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19292 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19296 @node Active File Format
19297 @subsubsection Active File Format
19299 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19300 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19303 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19306 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19307 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19308 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19309 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19310 no.general 1000 900 y
19313 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19316 active = *group-line
19317 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19318 group = <non-white-space string>
19320 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19321 low-number = <positive integer>
19322 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19325 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19326 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19329 @node Newsgroups File Format
19330 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19332 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19333 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19334 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19337 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19338 Here's the definition:
19342 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19343 group = <non-white-space string>
19345 description = <string>
19350 @node Emacs for Heathens
19351 @section Emacs for Heathens
19353 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19354 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19355 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19356 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19357 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19358 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19359 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19363 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19364 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19369 @subsection Keystrokes
19373 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19376 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19379 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19380 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19381 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19382 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19383 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19384 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19386 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19387 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19388 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19389 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19390 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19391 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19392 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19394 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19395 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19396 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19397 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19398 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19399 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19400 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19402 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19403 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19404 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19405 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19406 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19412 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19414 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19415 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19416 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19417 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19419 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19420 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19421 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19422 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19423 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19424 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19425 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19428 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19429 write the following:
19432 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19435 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19436 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19437 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19440 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19441 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19442 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19443 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19444 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19446 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19447 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19448 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19452 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19456 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19459 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19460 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19463 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19466 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19467 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19470 @include gnus-faq.texi