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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.064 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Semi-gnus 6.10.064 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
358 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
359 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
360 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
361 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
362 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
364 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.10.064.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
384 even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 @chapter Starting gnus
417 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
418 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
421 @findex gnus-other-frame
422 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
423 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
424 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
426 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
427 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
428 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
430 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
431 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
441 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
442 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
443 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 @node Finding the News
449 @section Finding the News
452 @vindex gnus-select-method
454 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
455 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
456 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
457 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
460 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
461 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
467 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
470 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
473 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
474 certainly be much faster.
476 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
478 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
479 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
480 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
481 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
482 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
483 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
487 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
488 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
490 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
491 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
492 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
493 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
494 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
495 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
496 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
497 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
498 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
501 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
503 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
504 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
505 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
506 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
507 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
508 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
510 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
512 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
513 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
514 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
515 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
516 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
517 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
520 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
521 would typically set this variable to
524 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
529 @section The First Time
530 @cindex first time usage
532 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
533 be subscribed by default.
535 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
536 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
537 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
538 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
541 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
542 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
543 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
545 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
546 help you with most common problems.
548 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
549 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
553 @node The Server is Down
554 @section The Server is Down
555 @cindex server errors
557 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
558 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
559 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
561 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
562 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
563 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
564 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
565 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
566 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
567 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
569 @findex gnus-no-server
570 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
572 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
573 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
574 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
575 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
576 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
577 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
582 @section Slave Gnusae
585 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
586 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
587 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
588 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
590 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
593 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
594 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
595 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
596 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
597 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
598 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
599 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
601 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
602 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
603 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
604 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
605 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
606 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
607 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
608 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
610 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
611 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
614 @node Fetching a Group
615 @section Fetching a Group
616 @cindex fetching a group
618 @findex gnus-fetch-group
619 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
620 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
621 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
622 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
623 It takes the group name as a parameter.
631 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
632 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
633 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
634 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
635 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
636 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
637 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
638 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
639 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
642 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
643 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
644 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
648 @node Checking New Groups
649 @subsection Checking New Groups
651 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
652 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
653 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
654 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
655 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
656 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
657 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
658 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
659 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
660 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
662 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
663 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
664 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
665 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
666 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
667 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
668 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
669 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
670 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
671 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
672 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
674 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
675 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
676 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
677 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
678 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
679 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
682 @node Subscription Methods
683 @subsection Subscription Methods
685 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
686 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
687 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
689 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
690 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
692 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
696 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
698 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
699 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
700 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
702 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
703 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
704 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
705 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
707 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
708 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
709 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
711 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
712 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
713 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
714 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
715 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
716 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
717 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
718 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
719 up. Or something like that.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
723 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
724 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
725 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
727 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
728 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
733 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
734 A closely related variable is
735 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
736 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
737 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
738 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
741 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
742 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
743 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
744 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
747 @node Filtering New Groups
748 @subsection Filtering New Groups
750 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
751 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
752 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
755 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
758 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
759 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
760 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
761 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
762 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
763 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
764 subscribing these groups.
765 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
766 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
768 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
769 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
770 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
771 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
772 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
773 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
774 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
775 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
777 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
778 Yet another variable that meddles here is
779 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
780 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
781 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
782 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
783 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
784 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
785 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
786 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
788 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
789 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
792 @node Changing Servers
793 @section Changing Servers
794 @cindex changing servers
796 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
797 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
798 very flaky and you want to use another.
800 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
801 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
805 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
806 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
807 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
808 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
811 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
812 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
813 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
814 functions more than absolutely necessary.
816 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
817 @findex gnus-change-server
818 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
819 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
820 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
822 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
824 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
825 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
826 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
827 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
828 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
830 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
831 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
832 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
833 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
834 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
835 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
837 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
838 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
839 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
843 @section Startup Files
844 @cindex startup files
849 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
850 information is traditionally stored in this file.
852 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
853 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
854 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
855 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
856 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
857 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
858 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
860 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
861 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
862 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
863 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
864 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
865 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
867 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
868 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
869 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
870 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
871 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
872 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
873 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
874 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
875 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
876 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
878 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
879 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
880 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
881 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
882 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
883 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
884 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
885 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
886 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
887 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
888 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
889 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
891 @vindex gnus-startup-file
892 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
893 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
894 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
896 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
897 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
898 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
899 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
900 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
901 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
902 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
903 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
904 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
905 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
908 (defun turn-off-backup ()
909 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
911 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
912 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
915 @vindex gnus-init-file
916 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
917 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
918 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
919 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
920 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
921 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
922 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
923 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
924 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
933 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
934 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
935 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
936 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
937 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
940 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
941 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
944 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
945 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
946 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
948 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
949 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
950 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
951 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
952 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
953 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
955 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
956 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
957 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
960 @node The Active File
961 @section The Active File
963 @cindex ignored groups
965 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
966 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
967 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
969 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
970 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
971 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
972 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
973 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
974 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
975 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
978 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
979 @c if you set it to anything else.
981 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
983 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
984 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
985 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
987 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
988 you actually subscribe to.
990 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
991 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
992 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
993 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
995 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
996 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
997 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
998 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
999 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1000 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1002 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1003 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1004 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1005 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1006 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1007 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1009 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1010 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1012 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1013 secondary select methods.
1016 @node Startup Variables
1017 @section Startup Variables
1021 @item gnus-load-hook
1022 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1023 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1024 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1025 times you start gnus.
1027 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1028 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1029 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1031 @item gnus-startup-hook
1032 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1033 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1035 @item gnus-started-hook
1036 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1037 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1040 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1041 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1042 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1043 generating the group buffer.
1045 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1046 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1047 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1048 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1049 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1050 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1051 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1052 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1054 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1055 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1056 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1057 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1058 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1059 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1061 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1062 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1063 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1065 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1066 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1067 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1069 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1070 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1071 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1072 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1077 @node The Group Buffer
1078 @chapter The Group Buffer
1079 @cindex group buffer
1081 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1082 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1083 long as gnus is active.
1087 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1088 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1089 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1090 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1091 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1092 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1093 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1094 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1100 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1101 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1102 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1103 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1104 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1105 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1106 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1107 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1108 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1109 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1110 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1111 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1112 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1113 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1114 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1115 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1116 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1120 @node Group Buffer Format
1121 @section Group Buffer Format
1124 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1125 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1126 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1130 @node Group Line Specification
1131 @subsection Group Line Specification
1132 @cindex group buffer format
1134 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1135 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1137 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1140 25: news.announce.newusers
1141 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1146 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1147 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1148 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1149 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1151 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1152 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1153 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1154 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1155 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1156 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1158 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1160 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1161 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1162 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1163 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1166 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1167 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1168 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1170 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1175 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1178 Whether the group is subscribed.
1181 Level of subscribedness.
1184 Number of unread articles.
1187 Number of dormant articles.
1190 Number of ticked articles.
1193 Number of read articles.
1196 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1197 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1200 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1203 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1212 Newsgroup description.
1215 @samp{m} if moderated.
1218 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1227 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1231 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1234 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1235 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1236 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1237 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1238 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1241 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1243 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1247 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1251 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1252 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1253 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1254 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1255 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1256 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1261 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1262 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1263 group, or a bogus native group.
1266 @node Group Modeline Specification
1267 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1268 @cindex group modeline
1270 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1271 The mode line can be changed by setting
1272 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1273 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1277 The native news server.
1279 The native select method.
1283 @node Group Highlighting
1284 @subsection Group Highlighting
1285 @cindex highlighting
1286 @cindex group highlighting
1288 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1289 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1290 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1291 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1292 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1294 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1298 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1299 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1300 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1301 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1302 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1303 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1304 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1305 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1306 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1307 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1309 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1310 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1311 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1312 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1313 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1314 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1317 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1319 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1326 The number of unread articles in the group.
1330 Whether the group is a mail group.
1332 The level of the group.
1334 The score of the group.
1336 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1338 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1339 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1341 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1342 topic being inserted.
1345 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1346 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1347 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1349 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1350 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1351 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1352 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1353 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1356 @node Group Maneuvering
1357 @section Group Maneuvering
1358 @cindex group movement
1360 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1361 expected, hopefully.
1367 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1368 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1369 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1375 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1376 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1377 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1381 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1382 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1386 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1387 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1391 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1392 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1393 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1397 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1398 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1399 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1402 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1408 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1409 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1410 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1415 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1416 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1417 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1421 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1422 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1423 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1426 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1427 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1428 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1429 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1433 @node Selecting a Group
1434 @section Selecting a Group
1435 @cindex group selection
1440 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1441 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1442 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1443 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1444 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1445 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1446 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1447 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1448 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1449 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1453 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1454 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1455 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1456 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1457 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1461 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1462 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1463 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1464 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1465 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1466 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1467 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1468 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1469 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1470 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1473 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1474 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1475 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1476 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1477 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1480 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1481 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1482 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1483 doing any processing of its contents
1484 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1485 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1486 manner will have no permanent effects.
1490 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1491 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1492 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1493 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1494 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1495 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1496 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1497 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1500 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1501 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1502 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1503 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1508 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1509 full summary buffer.
1512 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1515 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1520 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1521 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1522 Useful functions include:
1525 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1526 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1527 don't select the article.
1529 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1530 Select the first unread article.
1532 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1533 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1537 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1538 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1539 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1543 @node Subscription Commands
1544 @section Subscription Commands
1545 @cindex subscription
1553 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1554 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1555 Toggle subscription to the current group
1556 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1562 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1563 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1564 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1565 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1571 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1572 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1573 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1579 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1580 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1583 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1584 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1585 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1586 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1587 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1593 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1594 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1598 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1599 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1602 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1603 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1604 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1605 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1606 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1607 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1608 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1609 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1610 @file{.newsrc} file.
1614 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1624 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1625 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1626 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1627 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1628 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1629 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1634 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1635 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1636 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1640 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1641 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1642 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1644 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1645 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1646 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1647 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1648 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1649 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1656 @section Group Levels
1660 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1661 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1662 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1663 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1664 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1666 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1672 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1673 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1674 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1675 prompted for a level.
1678 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1679 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1680 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1681 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1682 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1683 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1684 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1685 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1686 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1687 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1688 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1689 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1690 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1691 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1692 reasons of efficiency.
1694 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1695 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1697 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1698 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1699 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1701 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1702 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1703 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1704 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1705 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1706 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1707 relevant valid ranges.
1709 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1710 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1711 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1712 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1713 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1714 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1717 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1718 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1719 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1722 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1723 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1724 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1725 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1728 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1729 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1730 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1731 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1733 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1734 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1735 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1736 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1737 to 5. The default is 6.
1741 @section Group Score
1746 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1747 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1748 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1751 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1752 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1753 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1754 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1755 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1756 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1757 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1759 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1760 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1761 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1762 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1763 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1764 action after each summary exit, you can add
1765 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1766 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1767 slow things down somewhat.
1770 @node Marking Groups
1771 @section Marking Groups
1772 @cindex marking groups
1774 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1775 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1776 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1777 bidding on those groups.
1779 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1780 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1781 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1789 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1790 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1796 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1797 Remove the mark from the current group
1798 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1802 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1803 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1807 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1808 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1812 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1813 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1817 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1818 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1819 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1822 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1824 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1825 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1826 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1827 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1828 the command to be executed.
1831 @node Foreign Groups
1832 @section Foreign Groups
1833 @cindex foreign groups
1835 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1836 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1837 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1838 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1845 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1846 @cindex making groups
1847 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1848 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1849 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1853 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1854 @cindex renaming groups
1855 Rename the current group to something else
1856 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1857 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1863 @findex gnus-group-customize
1864 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1868 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1869 @cindex renaming groups
1870 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1871 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1876 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1877 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1881 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1882 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1883 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1887 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1889 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1890 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1895 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1896 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1900 @cindex (ding) archive
1901 @cindex archive group
1902 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1903 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1904 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1905 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1906 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1907 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1908 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1912 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1914 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1915 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1916 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1917 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1921 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1923 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1924 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1925 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1929 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1930 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1932 Make a group based on some file or other
1933 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1934 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1935 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1936 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1937 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1938 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1939 @xref{Document Groups}.
1943 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1944 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1945 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1946 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1950 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1955 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1956 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1957 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1958 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1959 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1960 @xref{Web Searches}.
1962 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1963 to a particular group by using a match string like
1964 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1967 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1968 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1969 This function will delete the current group
1970 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1971 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1972 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1973 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1974 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1978 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1979 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1980 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1984 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1985 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1986 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1989 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
1992 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1993 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1994 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1995 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1996 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1997 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2001 @node Group Parameters
2002 @section Group Parameters
2003 @cindex group parameters
2005 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2006 Here's an example group parameter list:
2009 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2013 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2014 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2015 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2016 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2018 The following group parameters can be used:
2023 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2026 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2029 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2030 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2031 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2032 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2033 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2035 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2036 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2037 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2038 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2039 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2040 list address instead.
2044 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2047 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2050 It is totally ignored
2051 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2052 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2054 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2055 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2056 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2057 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2058 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2060 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2061 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2062 sending the message.
2066 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2067 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2068 of whether it has any unread articles.
2070 @item broken-reply-to
2071 @cindex broken-reply-to
2072 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2073 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2074 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2075 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2076 broken behavior. So there!
2080 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2081 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2085 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2086 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2087 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2092 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2093 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2094 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2095 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2096 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2097 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2098 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2102 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2103 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2104 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2107 @cindex total-expire
2108 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2109 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2110 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2111 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2116 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2117 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2118 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2119 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2120 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2121 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2124 @cindex score file group parameter
2125 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2126 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2127 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2130 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2131 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2132 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2133 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2136 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2137 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2138 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2139 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2142 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2143 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2147 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2150 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2155 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2156 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2157 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2161 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2162 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2163 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2165 @item @var{(variable form)}
2166 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2167 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2168 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2169 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2170 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2171 @code{eval}ed there.
2173 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2174 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2175 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2176 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2177 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2180 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2181 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2182 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2183 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2184 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2186 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2187 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2188 like this in the group parameters:
2193 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2198 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2199 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2203 @node Listing Groups
2204 @section Listing Groups
2205 @cindex group listing
2207 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2215 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2216 List all groups that have unread articles
2217 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2218 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2219 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2220 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2227 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2228 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2229 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2230 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2231 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2232 unsubscribed groups).
2236 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2237 List all unread groups on a specific level
2238 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2239 with no unread articles.
2243 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2244 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2245 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2246 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2251 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2252 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2256 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2257 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2258 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2262 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2263 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2267 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2268 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2269 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2270 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2271 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2272 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2273 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2274 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2278 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2279 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2280 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2284 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2285 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2286 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2290 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2291 @cindex visible group parameter
2292 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2293 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2294 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2295 get the same effect.
2297 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2298 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2299 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2300 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2301 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2304 @node Sorting Groups
2305 @section Sorting Groups
2306 @cindex sorting groups
2308 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2309 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2310 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2311 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2312 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2313 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2318 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2319 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2320 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2322 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2323 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2324 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2326 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2327 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2328 Sort by group level.
2330 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2331 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2332 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2334 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2335 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2336 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2337 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2339 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2340 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2341 Sort by number of unread articles.
2343 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2344 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2345 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2350 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2351 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2355 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2356 some sorting criteria:
2360 @kindex G S a (Group)
2361 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2362 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2363 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2366 @kindex G S u (Group)
2367 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2368 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2369 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2372 @kindex G S l (Group)
2373 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2374 Sort the group buffer by group level
2375 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2378 @kindex G S v (Group)
2379 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2380 Sort the group buffer by group score
2381 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2384 @kindex G S r (Group)
2385 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2386 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2387 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2390 @kindex G S m (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2392 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2393 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2397 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2398 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2400 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2401 commands will sort in reverse order.
2403 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2407 @kindex G P a (Group)
2408 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2409 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2410 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2413 @kindex G P u (Group)
2414 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2415 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2416 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2419 @kindex G P l (Group)
2420 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2421 Sort the groups by group level
2422 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2425 @kindex G P v (Group)
2426 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2427 Sort the groups by group score
2428 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2431 @kindex G P r (Group)
2432 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2433 Sort the groups by group rank
2434 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2437 @kindex G P m (Group)
2438 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2439 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2440 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2446 @node Group Maintenance
2447 @section Group Maintenance
2448 @cindex bogus groups
2453 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2454 Find bogus groups and delete them
2455 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2459 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2460 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2461 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2462 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2463 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2467 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2468 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2469 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2470 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2473 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2474 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2475 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2476 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2481 @node Browse Foreign Server
2482 @section Browse Foreign Server
2483 @cindex foreign servers
2484 @cindex browsing servers
2489 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2490 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2491 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2492 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2495 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2496 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2497 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2498 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2500 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2505 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2506 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2510 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2511 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2514 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2515 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2516 Enter the current group and display the first article
2517 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2520 @kindex RET (Browse)
2521 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2522 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2526 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2527 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2528 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2534 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2535 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2539 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2540 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2541 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2546 @section Exiting gnus
2547 @cindex exiting gnus
2549 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2554 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2555 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
2556 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2557 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2561 @findex gnus-group-exit
2562 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2563 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2567 @findex gnus-group-quit
2568 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2569 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2572 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2573 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2574 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2575 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2576 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2581 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2582 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2583 trying to customize meta-variables.
2588 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2589 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2590 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2596 @section Group Topics
2599 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2600 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2601 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2602 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2603 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2604 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2608 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2609 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2620 2: alt.religion.emacs
2623 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2625 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2626 13: comp.sources.unix
2629 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2631 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2632 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2633 is a toggling command.)
2635 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2636 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2637 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2638 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2641 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2642 the hook for the group mode:
2645 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2649 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2650 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2651 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2652 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2653 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2657 @node Topic Variables
2658 @subsection Topic Variables
2659 @cindex topic variables
2661 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2662 really neat, I think.
2664 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2665 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2666 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2679 Number of groups in the topic.
2681 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2683 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2686 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2687 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2688 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2691 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2692 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2694 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2695 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2696 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2699 @node Topic Commands
2700 @subsection Topic Commands
2701 @cindex topic commands
2703 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2704 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2705 definitions slightly.
2711 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2712 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2713 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2717 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2718 Move the current group to some other topic
2719 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2720 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2724 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2725 Copy the current group to some other topic
2726 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2727 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2731 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2732 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2733 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2734 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2735 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2736 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2737 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2740 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2741 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2745 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2746 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2747 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2751 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2752 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2753 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2757 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2758 Toggle hiding empty topics
2759 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2763 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2764 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2765 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2768 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2769 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2770 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2771 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2775 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2777 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2778 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2779 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2780 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2783 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2784 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2785 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2786 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2790 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2792 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2793 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2794 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2795 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2796 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2797 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2800 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2801 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2802 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2803 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2807 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2808 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2809 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2813 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2814 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2815 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2820 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2821 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2824 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2825 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2826 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2830 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2831 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2832 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2836 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2837 @cindex group parameters
2838 @cindex topic parameters
2840 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2841 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2847 @subsection Topic Sorting
2848 @cindex topic sorting
2850 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2856 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2857 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2858 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2859 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2862 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2863 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2864 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2865 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2868 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2869 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2870 Sort the current topic by group level
2871 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2874 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2875 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2876 Sort the current topic by group score
2877 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2880 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2881 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2882 Sort the current topic by group rank
2883 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2886 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2887 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2888 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2889 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2893 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2896 @node Topic Topology
2897 @subsection Topic Topology
2898 @cindex topic topology
2901 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2907 2: alt.religion.emacs
2910 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2912 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2913 13: comp.sources.unix
2916 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2917 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2918 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2923 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2924 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2928 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2929 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2930 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2931 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2932 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2933 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2935 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2936 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2937 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2940 @node Topic Parameters
2941 @subsection Topic Parameters
2942 @cindex topic parameters
2944 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2945 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2946 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2948 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2949 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2950 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2951 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2957 2: alt.religion.emacs
2961 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2963 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2964 13: comp.sources.unix
2968 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2969 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2970 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2971 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2972 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2973 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2975 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2976 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2977 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2978 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2979 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2981 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2982 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2983 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2984 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2985 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2986 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2987 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2988 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2991 @node Misc Group Stuff
2992 @section Misc Group Stuff
2995 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2996 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2997 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2998 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3005 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3006 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3007 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3011 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3012 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3013 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3017 @findex gnus-group-mail
3018 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3022 Variables for the group buffer:
3026 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3027 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3028 is called after the group buffer has been
3031 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3032 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3033 is called after the group buffer is
3034 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3037 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3038 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3039 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3040 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3042 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3043 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3044 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3045 whether they are empty or not.
3050 @node Scanning New Messages
3051 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3052 @cindex new messages
3053 @cindex scanning new news
3059 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3060 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3061 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3062 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3063 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3064 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3069 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3070 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3071 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3072 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3073 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3074 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3075 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3077 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3078 @cindex activating groups
3080 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3081 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3086 @findex gnus-group-restart
3087 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3088 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3089 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3093 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3094 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3096 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3097 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3101 @node Group Information
3102 @subsection Group Information
3103 @cindex group information
3104 @cindex information on groups
3111 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3112 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3115 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3116 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3117 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3118 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3119 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3120 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3121 for fetching the file.
3123 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3124 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3128 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3130 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3131 @cindex describing groups
3132 @cindex group description
3133 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3134 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3135 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3139 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3140 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3141 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3148 @findex gnus-version
3149 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3153 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3154 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3157 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3160 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3161 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3165 @node Group Timestamp
3166 @subsection Group Timestamp
3168 @cindex group timestamps
3170 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3171 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3172 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3175 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3178 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3180 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3181 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3184 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3185 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3188 This will result in lines looking like:
3191 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3192 0: custom 19961002T012713
3195 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3196 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3200 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3201 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3206 @subsection File Commands
3207 @cindex file commands
3213 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3214 @vindex gnus-init-file
3215 @cindex reading init file
3216 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3217 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3221 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3222 @cindex saving .newsrc
3223 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3224 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3225 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3228 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3229 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3230 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3235 @node The Summary Buffer
3236 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3237 @cindex summary buffer
3239 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3240 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3242 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3243 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3245 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3248 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3249 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3250 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3251 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3252 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3253 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3254 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3255 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3256 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3257 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3258 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3259 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3260 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3261 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3262 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3263 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3264 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3265 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3266 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3267 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3268 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3269 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3270 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3271 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3272 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3273 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3274 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3275 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3276 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3280 @node Summary Buffer Format
3281 @section Summary Buffer Format
3282 @cindex summary buffer format
3286 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3287 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3288 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3294 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3295 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3296 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3297 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3300 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3301 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3302 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3303 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3304 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3305 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3306 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3307 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3308 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3309 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3310 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3311 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3312 other function instead:
3315 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3316 'mail-extract-address-components)
3319 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3320 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3321 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3322 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3325 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3326 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3328 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3329 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3330 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3331 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3332 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3334 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3336 The following format specification characters are understood:
3344 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3345 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3346 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3348 Full @code{From} header.
3350 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3352 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3353 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3355 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3356 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3357 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3358 may be more thorough.
3360 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3363 Number of lines in the article.
3365 Number of characters in the article.
3367 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3369 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3370 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3372 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3373 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3375 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3376 for adopted articles.
3378 One space for each thread level.
3380 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3385 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3386 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3390 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3392 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3393 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3394 default level. If the difference between
3395 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3396 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3404 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3406 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3412 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3413 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3415 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3416 article has any children.
3422 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3423 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3424 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3425 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3426 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3427 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3430 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3431 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3432 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3433 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3434 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3435 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3437 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3438 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3440 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3443 @node To From Newsgroups
3444 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3448 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3449 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3450 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3451 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3452 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3456 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3457 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3458 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3462 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3463 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3466 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3467 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3470 @findex gnus-extra-header
3471 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3472 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3473 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3476 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3480 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3481 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3482 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3483 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3484 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3485 headers are used instead.
3489 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3490 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3491 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3492 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3495 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3496 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3497 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3498 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3500 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3503 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3505 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3506 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3507 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3508 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3512 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3513 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3520 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3521 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3524 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3525 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3527 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3528 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3529 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3530 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3532 Here are the elements you can play with:
3538 Unprefixed group name.
3540 Current article number.
3542 Current article score.
3546 Number of unread articles in this group.
3548 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3551 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3552 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3553 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3554 and no unselected ones.
3556 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3557 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3559 Subject of the current article.
3561 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3563 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3565 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3567 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3569 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3571 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3575 @node Summary Highlighting
3576 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3580 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3581 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3582 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3583 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3584 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3586 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3587 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3588 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3589 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3591 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3592 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3593 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3594 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3596 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3597 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3598 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3599 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3600 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3601 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3603 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3604 ((> score default) . bold))
3606 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3607 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3611 @node Summary Maneuvering
3612 @section Summary Maneuvering
3613 @cindex summary movement
3615 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3616 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3618 None of these commands select articles.
3623 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3624 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3625 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3626 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3627 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3631 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3632 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3634 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3635 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3640 @kindex G j (Summary)
3641 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3642 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3643 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3646 @kindex G g (Summary)
3647 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3648 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3649 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3652 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3653 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3654 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3655 to the group buffer.
3657 Variables related to summary movement:
3661 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3662 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3663 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3664 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3665 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3666 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3667 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3668 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3669 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3670 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3671 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3672 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3673 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3674 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3676 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3677 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3678 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3679 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3680 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3681 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3682 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3684 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3686 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3687 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3688 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3689 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3690 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3692 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3693 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3694 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3695 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3696 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3697 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3698 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3699 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3702 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3703 the given number of lines from the top.
3708 @node Choosing Articles
3709 @section Choosing Articles
3710 @cindex selecting articles
3713 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3714 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3718 @node Choosing Commands
3719 @subsection Choosing Commands
3721 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3722 and they all select and display an article.
3726 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3728 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3729 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3734 @kindex G n (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3736 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3737 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3742 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3743 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3744 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3749 @kindex G N (Summary)
3750 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3751 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3756 @kindex G P (Summary)
3757 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3758 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3761 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3762 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3763 Go to the next article with the same subject
3764 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3767 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3769 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3770 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3774 @kindex G f (Summary)
3776 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3777 Go to the first unread article
3778 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3782 @kindex G b (Summary)
3784 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3785 Go to the article with the highest score
3786 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3791 @kindex G l (Summary)
3792 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3793 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3796 @kindex G o (Summary)
3797 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3799 @cindex article history
3800 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3801 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3802 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3803 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3804 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3805 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3809 @node Choosing Variables
3810 @subsection Choosing Variables
3812 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3815 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3816 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3817 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3818 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3819 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3820 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3822 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3823 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3824 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3825 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3827 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3828 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3829 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3830 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3831 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3832 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3833 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3834 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3835 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3836 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3837 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3838 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3839 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3840 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3845 @node Paging the Article
3846 @section Scrolling the Article
3847 @cindex article scrolling
3852 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3853 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3854 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3855 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3856 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3859 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3860 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3861 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3864 @kindex RET (Summary)
3865 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3866 Scroll the current article one line forward
3867 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3870 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3871 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3872 Scroll the current article one line backward
3873 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3877 @kindex A g (Summary)
3879 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3880 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3881 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3882 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3883 the way it came from the server.
3888 @kindex A < (Summary)
3889 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3890 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3891 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3896 @kindex A > (Summary)
3897 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3898 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3902 @kindex A s (Summary)
3904 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3905 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3906 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3910 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3911 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3916 @node Reply Followup and Post
3917 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3920 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3921 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3925 @node Summary Mail Commands
3926 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3928 @cindex composing mail
3930 Commands for composing a mail message:
3936 @kindex S r (Summary)
3938 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3939 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3940 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3941 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3942 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3947 @kindex S R (Summary)
3948 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3949 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3950 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3951 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3952 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3955 @kindex S w (Summary)
3956 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3957 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3958 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3959 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3960 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3963 @kindex S W (Summary)
3964 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3965 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3966 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3967 the process/prefix convention.
3970 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3971 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3972 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3973 Forward the current article to some other person
3974 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3975 headers of the forwarded article.
3980 @kindex S m (Summary)
3981 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3982 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3983 Send a mail to some other person
3984 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3987 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3988 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3989 @cindex bouncing mail
3990 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3991 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3992 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3993 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3994 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3995 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3996 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3997 very well fail, though.
4000 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4001 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4002 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4003 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4004 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4005 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4006 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4007 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4008 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4009 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4011 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4012 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4013 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4014 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4015 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4017 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4018 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4021 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4022 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4023 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4024 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4025 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4028 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4029 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4030 @cindex crossposting
4031 @cindex excessive crossposting
4032 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4033 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4035 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4036 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4037 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4038 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4039 command understands the process/prefix convention
4040 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4044 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4047 @node Summary Post Commands
4048 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4050 @cindex composing news
4052 Commands for posting a news article:
4058 @kindex S p (Summary)
4059 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4060 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4061 Post an article to the current group
4062 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4067 @kindex S f (Summary)
4068 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4069 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4070 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4074 @kindex S F (Summary)
4076 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4077 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4078 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4079 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4080 process/prefix convention.
4083 @kindex S n (Summary)
4084 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4085 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4086 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4089 @kindex S N (Summary)
4090 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4091 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4092 message through mail and include the original message
4093 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4094 the process/prefix convention.
4097 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4098 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4099 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4100 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4101 headers of the forwarded article.
4104 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4105 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4107 @cindex making digests
4108 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4109 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4110 process/prefix convention.
4113 @kindex S u (Summary)
4114 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4115 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4116 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4117 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4120 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4123 @node Canceling and Superseding
4124 @section Canceling Articles
4125 @cindex canceling articles
4126 @cindex superseding articles
4128 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4129 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4131 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4133 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4135 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4136 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4137 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4138 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4139 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4140 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4142 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4143 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4146 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4147 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4148 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4150 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4151 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4152 your original article.
4154 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4156 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4157 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4158 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4161 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4162 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4163 have posted almost the same article twice.
4165 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4166 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4167 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4168 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4169 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4170 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4171 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4172 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4173 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4174 canceled/superseded.
4176 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4179 @node Marking Articles
4180 @section Marking Articles
4181 @cindex article marking
4182 @cindex article ticking
4185 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4187 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4188 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4189 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4191 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4194 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4195 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4196 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4200 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4204 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4205 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4206 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4210 @node Unread Articles
4211 @subsection Unread Articles
4213 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4218 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4219 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4221 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4222 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4223 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4224 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4225 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4229 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4230 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4232 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4233 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4234 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4237 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4238 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4240 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4245 @subsection Read Articles
4246 @cindex expirable mark
4248 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4253 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4254 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4255 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4258 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4259 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4262 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4263 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4264 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4267 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4268 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4271 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4272 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4275 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4276 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4279 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4280 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4283 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4284 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4287 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4288 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4291 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4292 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4296 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4297 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4298 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4302 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4303 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4305 One more special mark, though:
4309 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4310 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4312 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4313 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4314 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4315 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
4321 @subsection Other Marks
4322 @cindex process mark
4325 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4331 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4332 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4333 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4334 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4335 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4338 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4339 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4340 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4341 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4344 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4345 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4346 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4349 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4350 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4351 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4352 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4355 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4356 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4357 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4358 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4359 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4362 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4363 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4364 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4365 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4366 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4367 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4371 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4372 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4373 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4375 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4376 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4377 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4381 @subsection Setting Marks
4382 @cindex setting marks
4384 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4389 @kindex M c (Summary)
4390 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4391 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4392 @cindex mark as unread
4393 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4394 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4400 @kindex M t (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4402 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4403 @xref{Article Caching}.
4408 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4409 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4410 Mark the current article as dormant
4411 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4415 @kindex M d (Summary)
4417 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4418 Mark the current article as read
4419 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4423 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4424 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4425 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4430 @kindex M k (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4432 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4433 and then select the next unread article
4434 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4438 @kindex M K (Summary)
4439 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4440 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4441 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4442 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4445 @kindex M C (Summary)
4446 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4447 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4448 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4451 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4452 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4453 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4454 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4457 @kindex M H (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4459 Catchup the current group to point
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4463 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4465 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4466 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4469 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4470 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4471 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4472 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4476 @kindex M e (Summary)
4478 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4479 Mark the current article as expirable
4480 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4483 @kindex M b (Summary)
4484 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4485 Set a bookmark in the current article
4486 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4489 @kindex M B (Summary)
4490 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4491 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4492 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4495 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4496 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4497 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4498 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4501 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4503 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4504 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4507 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4509 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4510 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4511 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4514 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4515 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4516 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4517 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4518 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4519 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4520 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4521 The default is @code{t}.
4524 @node Generic Marking Commands
4525 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4527 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4528 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4529 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4530 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go the the
4531 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4534 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4535 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4538 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4539 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4540 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4541 to list in this manual.
4543 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4544 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4545 @kbd{!} command to go the the next article instead of the next unread
4546 article, you could say something like:
4549 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4550 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4551 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4557 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4558 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4562 @node Setting Process Marks
4563 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4564 @cindex setting process marks
4571 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4572 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4573 Mark the current article with the process mark
4574 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4575 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4579 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4580 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4581 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4582 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4585 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4587 Remove the process mark from all articles
4588 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4591 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4593 Invert the list of process marked articles
4594 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4597 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4598 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4599 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4600 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4603 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4605 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4608 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4610 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4611 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4614 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4615 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4616 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4617 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4620 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4621 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4622 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4623 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4626 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4628 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4631 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4633 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4634 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4637 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4639 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4642 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4644 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4645 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4648 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4650 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4651 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4654 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4656 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4657 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4660 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4662 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4663 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4672 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4673 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4674 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4677 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4678 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4679 additional articles.
4685 @kindex / / (Summary)
4686 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4687 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4688 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4691 @kindex / a (Summary)
4692 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4693 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4694 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4698 @kindex / u (Summary)
4700 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4701 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4702 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4703 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4704 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4707 @kindex / m (Summary)
4708 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4709 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4710 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4713 @kindex / t (Summary)
4714 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4715 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4716 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4717 articles younger than that number of days.
4720 @kindex / n (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4722 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4724 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4727 @kindex / w (Summary)
4728 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4729 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4730 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4734 @kindex / v (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4736 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4737 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4741 @kindex M S (Summary)
4742 @kindex / E (Summary)
4743 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4744 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4745 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4748 @kindex / D (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4750 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4751 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4754 @kindex / * (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4756 Include all cached articles in the limit
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4760 @kindex / d (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4762 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4763 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4766 @kindex / M (Summary)
4767 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4768 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4771 @kindex / T (Summary)
4772 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4773 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4776 @kindex / c (Summary)
4777 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4778 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4779 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4782 @kindex / C (Summary)
4783 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4784 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4785 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4786 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4794 @cindex article threading
4796 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4797 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4798 hierarchical fashion.
4800 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4801 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4802 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4803 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4804 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4805 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4806 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4808 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4812 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4815 A tree-like article structure.
4818 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4821 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4822 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4823 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4824 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4825 called loose threads.
4827 @item thread gathering
4828 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4830 @item sparse threads
4831 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4832 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4838 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4839 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4843 @node Customizing Threading
4844 @subsection Customizing Threading
4845 @cindex customizing threading
4848 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4849 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4850 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4851 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4856 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4859 @cindex loose threads
4862 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4863 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4864 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4865 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4866 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4867 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4869 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4870 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4871 There are four possible values:
4875 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4876 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4877 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4878 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4879 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4884 @cindex adopting articles
4889 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4890 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4891 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4892 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4895 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4896 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4897 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4898 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4899 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4900 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4901 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4904 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4905 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4906 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4910 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4911 display them after one another.
4914 Don't gather loose threads.
4917 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4918 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4919 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4920 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4921 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4922 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4923 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4924 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4925 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4926 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4927 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4929 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4930 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4931 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4934 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4935 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4936 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4937 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4938 simplification is used.
4940 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4941 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4942 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4943 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4945 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4947 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4953 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4954 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4955 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4956 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4961 (mapconcat 'identity
4962 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4964 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4967 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4970 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4971 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4972 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4973 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4974 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4975 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4977 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4980 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4981 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4982 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4984 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4985 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4988 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4989 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4990 Remove excessive whitespace.
4993 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4996 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4997 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4998 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4999 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5000 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5001 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5002 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5003 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5005 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5006 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5007 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5008 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5009 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5010 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5011 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5012 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5013 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5017 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5018 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5019 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5020 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5022 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5023 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5024 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5027 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5031 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5032 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5038 @node Filling In Threads
5039 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5042 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5043 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5044 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5045 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5046 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5047 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5048 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5049 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5050 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5051 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5052 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5053 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5055 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5056 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5057 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5059 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5060 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5061 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5062 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5063 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5064 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5065 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5066 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5067 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5068 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5069 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5070 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5071 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5072 @code{nil} by default.
5077 @node More Threading
5078 @subsubsection More Threading
5081 @item gnus-show-threads
5082 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5083 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5084 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5085 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5086 slower and more awkward.
5088 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5089 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5090 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5093 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5094 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5095 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5096 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5097 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5098 threads are expunged.
5100 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5101 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5102 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5105 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5106 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5107 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5108 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5109 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5112 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5113 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5114 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5120 @node Low-Level Threading
5121 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5125 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5126 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5127 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5128 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5129 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5130 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5132 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5133 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5134 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5135 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5136 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5137 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5138 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5139 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5140 meaningful. Here's one example:
5143 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5145 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5146 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5148 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5150 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5157 @node Thread Commands
5158 @subsection Thread Commands
5159 @cindex thread commands
5165 @kindex T k (Summary)
5166 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5168 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5169 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5170 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5175 @kindex T l (Summary)
5176 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5177 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5178 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5179 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5182 @kindex T i (Summary)
5183 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5184 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5185 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5188 @kindex T # (Summary)
5189 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5190 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5191 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5194 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5195 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5196 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5197 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5200 @kindex T T (Summary)
5201 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5202 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5205 @kindex T s (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5207 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5208 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5211 @kindex T h (Summary)
5212 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5213 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5216 @kindex T S (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5218 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5221 @kindex T H (Summary)
5222 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5223 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5226 @kindex T t (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5228 Re-thread the current article's thread
5229 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5230 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5233 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5235 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5236 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5240 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5241 understand the numeric prefix.
5246 @kindex T n (Summary)
5247 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5248 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5251 @kindex T p (Summary)
5252 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5253 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5256 @kindex T d (Summary)
5257 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5258 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5261 @kindex T u (Summary)
5262 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5263 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5266 @kindex T o (Summary)
5267 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5268 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5271 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5272 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5273 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5274 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5275 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5276 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5277 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5278 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5279 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5280 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5281 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5282 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5289 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5290 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5291 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5292 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5293 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5294 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5295 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5296 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5297 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5298 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5299 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5301 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5302 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5303 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5304 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5305 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5307 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5308 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5309 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5311 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5312 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5313 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5314 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5315 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5316 ascending article order.
5318 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5319 by number, you could do something like:
5322 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5323 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5324 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5325 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5328 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5329 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5330 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5331 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5332 which the articles arrived.
5334 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5338 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5340 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5341 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5344 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5345 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5346 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5347 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5350 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5351 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5352 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5353 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5354 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5355 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5356 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5357 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5358 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5359 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5360 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5361 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5362 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5364 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5368 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5369 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5370 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5375 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5376 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5377 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5378 @cindex article pre-fetch
5381 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5382 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5383 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5384 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5385 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5387 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5388 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5390 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5391 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5392 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5393 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5394 connection is blocked.
5396 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5397 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5398 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5399 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5401 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5402 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5403 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5404 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5407 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5410 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5411 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5412 happen automatically.
5414 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5415 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5416 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5417 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5418 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5419 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5420 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5422 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5423 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5424 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5425 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5426 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5427 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5428 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5429 data structure as the only parameter.
5431 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5434 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5435 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5436 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5437 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5440 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5443 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5444 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
5445 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5447 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5448 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5449 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5450 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5454 Remove articles when they are read.
5457 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5460 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5462 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5463 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5464 @c from the next group.
5467 @node Article Caching
5468 @section Article Caching
5469 @cindex article caching
5472 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5473 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5474 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5475 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5476 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5478 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5480 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5481 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5482 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5483 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5484 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5485 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5486 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5487 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5489 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5490 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5491 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5492 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5493 as dormant, and don't worry.
5495 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5497 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5498 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5499 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5500 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5501 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5502 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5503 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5504 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5505 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5506 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5508 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5509 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5510 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5511 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5512 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5513 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5514 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5515 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5516 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5517 not then be downloaded by this command.
5519 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5520 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5521 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5522 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5523 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5524 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5526 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5527 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5528 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5529 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5530 variables, the group is not cached.
5532 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5533 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5534 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5535 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5536 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5537 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5538 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5539 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5540 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5544 @node Persistent Articles
5545 @section Persistent Articles
5546 @cindex persistent articles
5548 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5549 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5550 useful in my opinion.
5552 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5553 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5554 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5555 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5556 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5557 the expiry going on at the news server.
5559 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5560 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5561 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5567 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5568 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5571 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5572 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5573 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5574 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5578 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5580 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5581 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5582 interested in persistent articles:
5585 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5589 @node Article Backlog
5590 @section Article Backlog
5592 @cindex article backlog
5594 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5595 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5596 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5597 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5598 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5599 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5600 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5601 increase memory usage some.
5603 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5604 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5605 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5606 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5607 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5608 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5609 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5611 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5614 @node Saving Articles
5615 @section Saving Articles
5616 @cindex saving articles
5618 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5619 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5620 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5621 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5622 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5624 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5625 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5626 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5628 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5629 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5630 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5631 deleted before saving.
5637 @kindex O o (Summary)
5639 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5640 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5641 Save the current article using the default article saver
5642 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5645 @kindex O m (Summary)
5646 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5647 Save the current article in mail format
5648 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5651 @kindex O r (Summary)
5652 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5653 Save the current article in rmail format
5654 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5657 @kindex O f (Summary)
5658 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5659 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5660 Save the current article in plain file format
5661 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5664 @kindex O F (Summary)
5665 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5666 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5667 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5670 @kindex O b (Summary)
5671 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5672 Save the current article body in plain file format
5673 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5676 @kindex O h (Summary)
5677 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5678 Save the current article in mh folder format
5679 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5682 @kindex O v (Summary)
5683 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5684 Save the current article in a VM folder
5685 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5688 @kindex O p (Summary)
5689 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5690 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5691 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5694 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5695 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5696 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5697 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5698 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5699 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5700 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5701 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5702 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5703 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5704 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5705 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5709 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5710 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5711 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5712 functions below, or you can create your own.
5716 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5717 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5718 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5719 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5720 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5721 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5722 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5724 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5725 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5726 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5727 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5728 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5729 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5731 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5732 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5733 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5734 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5735 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5736 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5737 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5739 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5740 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5741 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5742 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5743 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5745 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5746 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5747 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5748 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5749 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5752 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5753 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5754 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5755 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5756 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5758 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5759 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5760 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5761 reader to use this setting.
5764 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5765 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5766 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5767 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5770 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5771 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5772 available functions that generate names:
5776 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5777 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5778 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5780 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5781 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5782 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5784 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5785 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5786 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5788 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5789 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5790 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5793 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5794 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5795 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5796 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5797 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5801 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5802 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5803 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5804 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5807 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5808 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5809 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5810 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5811 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5812 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5813 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5814 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5815 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5817 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5818 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5819 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5820 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5822 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5823 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5824 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5827 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5828 lots of mail groups called things like
5829 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5830 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5831 following will do just that:
5834 (defun my-save-name (group)
5835 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5836 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5838 (setq gnus-split-methods
5839 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5844 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5845 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5846 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5847 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5848 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5849 all the files in the top level directory
5850 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5851 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5852 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5853 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5855 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5856 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5857 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5858 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5859 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5862 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5866 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5867 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5870 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5871 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5872 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5873 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5876 @node Decoding Articles
5877 @section Decoding Articles
5878 @cindex decoding articles
5880 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5881 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5884 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5885 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5886 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5887 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5888 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5889 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5893 @cindex article series
5894 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5895 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5896 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5897 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5898 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5900 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5901 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5902 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5904 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5905 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5906 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5908 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5909 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5910 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5913 @node Uuencoded Articles
5914 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5916 @cindex uuencoded articles
5921 @kindex X u (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5923 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5924 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5927 @kindex X U (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5929 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5930 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5933 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5935 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5938 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5939 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5940 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5941 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5945 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5946 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5947 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5948 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5949 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5951 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5952 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5953 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5954 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5957 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5958 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5959 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5960 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5961 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5962 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5966 @node Shell Archives
5967 @subsection Shell Archives
5969 @cindex shell archives
5970 @cindex shared articles
5972 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5973 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5974 some commands to deal with these:
5979 @kindex X s (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5981 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5984 @kindex X S (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5986 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5989 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5990 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5991 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5994 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5995 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5996 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5997 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6001 @node PostScript Files
6002 @subsection PostScript Files
6008 @kindex X p (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6010 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6013 @kindex X P (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6015 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6016 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6019 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6021 View the current PostScript series
6022 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6025 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6026 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6027 View and save the current PostScript series
6028 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6033 @subsection Other Files
6037 @kindex X o (Summary)
6038 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6039 Save the current series
6040 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6043 @kindex X b (Summary)
6044 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6045 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6046 doesn't really work yet.
6050 @node Decoding Variables
6051 @subsection Decoding Variables
6053 Adjective, not verb.
6056 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6057 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6058 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6062 @node Rule Variables
6063 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6064 @cindex rule variables
6066 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6067 variables are of the form
6070 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6077 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6078 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6080 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6081 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6084 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6085 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6088 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6089 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6090 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6091 user and default view rules.
6093 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6094 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6095 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6100 @node Other Decode Variables
6101 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6104 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6106 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6107 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6108 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6109 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6110 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6114 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6115 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6118 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6119 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6120 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6123 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6124 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6125 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6126 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6127 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6130 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6131 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6132 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6134 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6135 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6136 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6137 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6138 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6141 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6142 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6143 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6145 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6146 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6147 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6148 looking for files to display.
6150 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6151 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6152 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6155 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6156 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6157 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6160 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6161 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6162 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6165 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6166 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6167 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6170 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6171 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6172 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6173 decoded articles as unread.
6175 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6176 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6177 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6178 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6180 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6181 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6182 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6184 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6185 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6187 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6188 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6189 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6190 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6192 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6193 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6194 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6195 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6196 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6197 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6198 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6199 simply dropped them.
6204 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6205 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6209 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6210 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6211 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6212 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6213 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6214 for you when you post the article.
6216 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6217 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6218 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6219 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6221 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6222 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6223 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6224 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6225 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6226 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6227 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6229 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6230 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6231 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6232 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6233 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6234 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6235 Default is @code{t}.
6241 @subsection Viewing Files
6242 @cindex viewing files
6243 @cindex pseudo-articles
6245 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6246 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6247 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6248 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6249 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6250 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6251 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6253 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6254 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6255 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6256 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6258 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6259 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6260 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6262 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6263 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6264 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6265 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6266 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6268 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6269 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6270 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6271 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6272 a list of parameters to that command.
6274 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6275 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6276 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6278 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6279 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6280 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6283 @node Article Treatment
6284 @section Article Treatment
6286 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6287 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6288 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6289 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6290 these articles easier.
6293 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6294 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6295 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6296 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6297 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6298 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6299 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6303 @node Article Highlighting
6304 @subsection Article Highlighting
6305 @cindex highlighting
6307 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6308 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6313 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6315 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6316 Do much highlighting of the current article
6317 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6318 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6321 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6322 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6323 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6324 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6325 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6326 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6327 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6328 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6329 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6330 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6331 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6334 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6335 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6336 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6338 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6341 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6343 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6344 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6345 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6347 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6348 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6349 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6351 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6352 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6353 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6355 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6356 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6357 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6358 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6359 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6360 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6362 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6363 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6364 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6366 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6367 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6368 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6370 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6371 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6372 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6373 that it's a citation.
6375 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6376 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6377 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6379 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6380 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6381 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6383 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6384 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6385 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6386 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6392 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6393 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6394 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6395 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6396 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6397 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6398 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6399 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6404 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6407 @node Article Fontisizing
6408 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6410 @cindex article emphasis
6412 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6413 @kindex W e (Summary)
6414 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6415 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6416 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6417 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6419 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6420 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6421 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6422 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6423 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6424 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6425 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6426 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6430 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6431 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6432 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6435 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6436 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6437 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6438 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6439 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6440 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6441 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6442 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6443 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6444 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6445 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6446 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6447 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6449 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6450 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6451 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6455 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6458 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6461 @node Article Hiding
6462 @subsection Article Hiding
6463 @cindex article hiding
6465 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6466 too much cruft in most articles.
6471 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6472 @findex gnus-article-hide
6473 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6474 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6475 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6478 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
6480 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6484 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6485 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6486 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6487 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6490 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6491 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6492 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6496 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6498 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6499 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6500 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6501 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6502 articles that have signatures in them do:
6504 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6506 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6508 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6509 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6511 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6514 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6519 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6520 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6521 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6522 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6525 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6526 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6527 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6528 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6529 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6530 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6531 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6532 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6533 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6534 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6535 signature should be removed.
6538 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6539 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6540 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6541 customizing the hiding:
6545 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6546 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6547 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6548 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6549 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6550 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6551 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6556 Starting point of the hidden text.
6558 Ending point of the hidden text.
6560 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6562 Number of lines of hidden text.
6565 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6566 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6567 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6572 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6573 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6575 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6576 following two variables:
6579 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6580 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6581 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6582 50), hide the cited text.
6584 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6585 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6586 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6591 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6593 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6594 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6595 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6596 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6600 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6601 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6602 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6604 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6605 citation customization.
6607 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6611 @node Article Washing
6612 @subsection Article Washing
6614 @cindex article washing
6616 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6617 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6619 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6620 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6626 @kindex W l (Summary)
6627 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6628 Remove page breaks from the current article
6629 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6633 @kindex W r (Summary)
6634 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6635 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6636 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6637 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6638 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6639 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6641 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6642 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6643 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6644 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6647 @kindex W t (Summary)
6648 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6649 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6650 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6653 @kindex W v (Summary)
6654 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6655 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6656 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6659 @kindex W m (Summary)
6660 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6661 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6662 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6665 @kindex W o (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6667 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6670 @kindex W d (Summary)
6671 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6672 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6674 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6676 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6677 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6678 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6679 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6683 @kindex W w (Summary)
6684 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6685 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6687 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6691 @kindex W q (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6693 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6696 @kindex W C (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentencse
6698 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6699 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6702 @kindex W c (Summary)
6703 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6704 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6705 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6706 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6707 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6710 @kindex W f (Summary)
6712 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6713 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6714 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6715 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6721 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6722 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6723 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6724 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6725 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6726 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6727 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6728 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6729 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6730 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6731 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6732 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6733 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6734 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6738 @kindex W b (Summary)
6739 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6740 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6741 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6744 @kindex W B (Summary)
6745 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6746 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6747 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6750 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6751 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6752 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6753 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6756 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6757 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6758 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6759 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6762 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6763 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6764 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6765 lines with a single empty line.
6766 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6769 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6770 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6771 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6772 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6775 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6776 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6777 Do all the three commands above
6778 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6781 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6782 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6783 Remove all blank lines
6784 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6787 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6788 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6789 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6790 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6793 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6794 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6795 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6796 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6800 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6803 @node Article Buttons
6804 @subsection Article Buttons
6807 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6808 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6809 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6810 button on these references.
6812 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6813 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6814 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6819 @item gnus-button-alist
6820 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6821 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6824 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6830 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6831 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6832 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6835 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6836 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6837 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6840 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6841 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6842 avoid false matches.
6845 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6848 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6849 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6853 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6856 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6859 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6860 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6861 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6862 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6863 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6866 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6869 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6871 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6872 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6873 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6874 default values of the variables above.
6876 @item gnus-article-button-face
6877 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6878 Face used on buttons.
6880 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6881 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6882 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6886 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6890 @subsection Article Date
6892 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6893 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6894 when the article was sent.
6899 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6900 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6901 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6902 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6905 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6906 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6908 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6909 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6912 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6914 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6917 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6918 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6919 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6920 @findex format-time-string
6921 Display the date using a user-defined format
6922 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6923 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6924 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6925 for a list of possible format specs.
6928 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6929 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6930 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6931 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6932 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6933 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
6936 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
6939 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
6940 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
6943 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
6944 into wonderful absurdities.
6946 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
6949 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6952 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6953 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6957 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6958 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6959 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6960 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6961 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6962 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6963 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6967 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
6968 preferred format automatically.
6971 @node Article Signature
6972 @subsection Article Signature
6974 @cindex article signature
6976 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6977 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6978 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6979 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6980 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6981 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6982 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6983 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6984 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6987 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6988 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6989 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6990 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6991 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6992 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6993 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6994 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6997 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7000 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7001 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7006 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7009 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7012 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7013 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7015 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7016 in question is not a signature.
7019 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7020 listed above. Here's an example:
7023 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7024 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7027 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7028 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7029 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7030 signature after all.
7034 @section MIME Commands
7035 @cindex MIME decoding
7039 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7040 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7041 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7042 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7045 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7046 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7047 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7050 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7051 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7052 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7054 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7055 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7056 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7057 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7058 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7059 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7062 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7063 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7064 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7071 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7072 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7073 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7074 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7077 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7080 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7084 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7085 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7086 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7087 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7088 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7090 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7091 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7092 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7093 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7094 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7095 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7096 save all jpegs into some directory).
7098 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7101 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7102 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7104 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7105 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7106 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7107 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7108 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7111 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7112 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7113 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7122 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7123 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7124 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7125 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7126 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7127 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7128 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7130 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7131 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7132 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7133 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7135 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7136 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7137 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7138 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7139 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7140 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7141 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7142 something some agents insist on having in there.
7145 @node Article Commands
7146 @section Article Commands
7153 @kindex A P (Summary)
7154 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7155 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7156 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7157 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7158 run just before printing the buffer.
7163 @node Summary Sorting
7164 @section Summary Sorting
7165 @cindex summary sorting
7167 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7168 can't really see why you'd want that.
7173 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7174 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7175 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7178 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7180 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7183 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7184 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7185 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7188 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7189 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7190 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7193 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7195 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7198 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7199 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7200 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7203 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7204 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7205 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7208 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7209 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7210 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7211 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7212 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7216 @node Finding the Parent
7217 @section Finding the Parent
7218 @cindex parent articles
7219 @cindex referring articles
7224 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7225 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7226 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7227 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7228 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7229 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7230 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7231 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7232 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7234 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7235 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7236 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7237 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7238 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7242 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7243 @kindex A R (Summary)
7244 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7245 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7248 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7249 @kindex A T (Summary)
7250 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7251 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7252 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7253 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7254 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7255 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7256 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7258 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7259 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7260 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7261 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7262 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7263 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7266 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7267 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7269 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7270 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7271 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7272 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7273 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7274 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7275 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7278 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7279 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7280 by giving this command a prefix.
7282 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7283 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7284 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7285 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7286 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7287 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7290 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7291 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7292 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7293 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7294 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7295 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7298 @node Alternative Approaches
7299 @section Alternative Approaches
7301 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7302 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7305 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7306 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7311 @subsection Pick and Read
7312 @cindex pick and read
7314 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7315 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7316 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7317 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7319 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7320 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7321 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7322 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7323 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7324 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7326 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7331 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7332 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7333 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7334 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7335 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7336 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7337 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7338 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7341 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7342 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7343 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7344 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7348 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7349 Unpick the thread or article
7350 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7351 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7352 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7353 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7354 the thread or article at that line.
7358 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7359 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7360 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7361 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7362 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7363 will still be visible when you are reading.
7367 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7368 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7369 which is mapped to the same function
7370 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7372 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7375 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7378 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7379 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7381 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7382 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7383 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7385 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7386 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7387 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7388 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7389 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7390 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7391 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7395 @subsection Binary Groups
7396 @cindex binary groups
7398 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7399 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7400 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7401 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7402 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7403 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7404 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7407 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7408 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7409 command, when you have turned on this mode
7410 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7412 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7413 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7417 @section Tree Display
7420 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7421 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7422 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7423 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7426 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7429 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7430 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7431 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7433 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7434 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7435 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7436 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7437 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7439 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7440 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7441 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7442 default is @code{modeline}.
7444 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7445 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7446 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7447 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7448 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7449 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7450 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7456 The name of the poster.
7458 The @code{From} header.
7460 The number of the article.
7462 The opening bracket.
7464 The closing bracket.
7469 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7471 Variables related to the display are:
7474 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7475 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7476 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7477 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7478 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7479 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7481 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7482 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7483 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7484 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7488 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7489 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7490 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7491 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7492 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7493 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7494 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7495 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7496 other windows displayed next to it.
7498 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7499 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7500 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7501 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7502 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7503 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7504 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7508 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7511 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7521 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7525 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7526 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7528 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7530 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7535 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7536 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7537 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7540 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7541 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7542 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7543 (gnus-add-configuration
7547 (summary 0.75 point)
7552 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7555 @node Mail Group Commands
7556 @section Mail Group Commands
7557 @cindex mail group commands
7559 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7560 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7562 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7563 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7568 @kindex B e (Summary)
7569 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7570 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7571 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7574 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7575 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7576 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7577 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7578 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7579 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7582 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7583 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7584 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7585 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7586 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7587 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7590 @kindex B m (Summary)
7592 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7593 Move the article from one mail group to another
7594 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7597 @kindex B c (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7600 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7601 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7602 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7605 @kindex B B (Summary)
7606 @cindex crosspost mail
7607 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7608 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7609 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7610 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7611 be properly updated.
7614 @kindex B i (Summary)
7615 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7616 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7617 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7618 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7621 @kindex B r (Summary)
7622 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7623 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7624 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7625 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7626 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7630 @kindex B w (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7633 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7634 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7635 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7636 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7637 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7640 @kindex B q (Summary)
7641 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7642 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7643 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7644 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7647 @kindex B t (Summary)
7648 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7649 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7650 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7653 @kindex B p (Summary)
7654 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7655 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7656 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7657 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7658 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7659 article from your news server (or rather, from
7660 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7661 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7662 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7663 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7664 just not have arrived yet.
7668 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7669 @cindex moving articles
7670 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7671 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7672 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7673 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7674 suggestions you find reasonable.
7677 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7678 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7679 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7680 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7684 @node Various Summary Stuff
7685 @section Various Summary Stuff
7688 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7689 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7690 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7691 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7695 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7696 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7697 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7699 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7700 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7701 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7702 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7703 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7704 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7707 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7708 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7709 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7710 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7711 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7713 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7714 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7715 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7718 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7719 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7720 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7721 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7722 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7723 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7724 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7725 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7726 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7727 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7732 @node Summary Group Information
7733 @subsection Summary Group Information
7738 @kindex H f (Summary)
7739 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7740 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7741 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7742 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7743 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7744 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7745 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7746 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7747 be used for fetching the file.
7750 @kindex H d (Summary)
7751 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7752 Give a brief description of the current group
7753 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7754 rereading the description from the server.
7757 @kindex H h (Summary)
7758 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7759 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7760 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7763 @kindex H i (Summary)
7764 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7765 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7769 @node Searching for Articles
7770 @subsection Searching for Articles
7775 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7776 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7777 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7778 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7781 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7782 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7783 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7784 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7788 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7789 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7790 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7791 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7795 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7796 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7797 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7798 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7801 @node Summary Generation Commands
7802 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7807 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7808 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7809 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7812 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7813 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7814 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7815 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7820 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7821 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7827 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7828 @kindex A D (Summary)
7829 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7830 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7831 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7832 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7833 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7834 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7835 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7836 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7840 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7841 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7842 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7843 several documents into one biiig group
7844 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7845 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7846 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7847 command understands the process/prefix convention
7848 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7851 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7852 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7853 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7854 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7855 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7856 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7860 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7861 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7862 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7865 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7866 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7867 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7868 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7871 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7872 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7873 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7874 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7879 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7880 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7881 @cindex summary exit
7882 @cindex exiting groups
7884 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7885 group and return you to the group buffer.
7891 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7893 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7894 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7895 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7896 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7897 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7898 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7899 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7900 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7901 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7902 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7903 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7907 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7909 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7910 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7911 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7915 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7917 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7918 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7919 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7920 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7923 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7924 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7925 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7926 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7929 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7930 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7931 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7932 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7935 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7936 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7937 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7938 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7939 all articles, both read and unread.
7943 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7944 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7945 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7946 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7947 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7948 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7949 articles, both read and unread.
7952 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7953 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7954 Exit the group and go to the next group
7955 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7958 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7959 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7960 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7961 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7964 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7965 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7966 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7967 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7968 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7969 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7972 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7973 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7976 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7977 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7978 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7979 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7980 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7981 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7982 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7983 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7984 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7985 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7986 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7987 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7989 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7991 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7992 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7993 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7994 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7995 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7996 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7997 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7998 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7999 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8002 @node Crosspost Handling
8003 @section Crosspost Handling
8007 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8008 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8009 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8010 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8011 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8012 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8015 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8016 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8017 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8018 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8019 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8021 @cindex cross-posting
8024 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8025 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8026 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8027 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8028 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8029 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8030 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8031 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8032 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8033 the cross reference mechanism.
8035 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8036 @cindex overview.fmt
8037 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8038 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8039 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8040 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8041 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8042 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8045 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8046 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8047 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8052 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8055 @node Duplicate Suppression
8056 @section Duplicate Suppression
8058 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8059 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8060 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8061 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8066 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8067 is evil and not very common.
8070 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8071 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8074 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8075 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8078 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8081 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8082 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8084 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8085 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8086 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8087 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8088 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8089 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8090 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8093 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8094 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8095 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8096 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8097 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8101 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8102 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8103 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8105 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8106 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8107 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8108 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8109 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
8110 session are suppressed.
8112 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8113 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8114 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8115 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8117 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8118 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8119 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8120 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8123 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
8124 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8125 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8126 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8127 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
8128 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8129 to you to figure out, I think.
8132 @node The Article Buffer
8133 @chapter The Article Buffer
8134 @cindex article buffer
8136 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8137 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8138 tell gnus otherwise.
8141 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8142 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
8143 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8144 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8145 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8149 @node Hiding Headers
8150 @section Hiding Headers
8151 @cindex hiding headers
8152 @cindex deleting headers
8154 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8155 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8157 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8158 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8159 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8160 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8161 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8162 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8163 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8164 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8165 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8167 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8171 @item gnus-visible-headers
8172 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8173 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8174 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8175 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8177 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8178 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8181 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8184 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8187 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8188 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8189 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8190 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8191 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8192 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8194 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
8195 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
8198 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8201 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8204 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8205 variable will have no effect.
8209 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8210 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8211 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8212 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8213 the headers are to be displayed.
8215 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8216 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8219 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8222 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8223 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8225 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8226 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8227 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8228 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
8229 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8230 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8231 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8234 These conditions are:
8237 Remove all empty headers.
8239 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8240 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8242 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8245 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8248 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8251 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8253 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8256 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8259 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8260 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8263 This is also the default value for this variable.
8267 @section Using @sc{mime}
8270 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8271 while people stand around yawning.
8273 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8274 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8276 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8277 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8278 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8280 @vindex gnus-show-mime
8281 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
8282 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
8283 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
8284 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
8285 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
8286 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
8287 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
8288 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
8289 existed yet, sorry).
8291 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
8292 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
8293 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
8294 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
8295 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
8296 buffer. These can't be avoided.
8298 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
8299 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
8300 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
8301 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
8302 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
8303 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
8304 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
8305 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
8306 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
8309 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8311 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
8312 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
8313 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
8314 buffer when there are nobody else.
8317 @node Customizing Articles
8318 @section Customizing Articles
8319 @cindex article customization
8321 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8322 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8323 called automatically when you select the articles.
8325 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8326 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8327 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8328 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8332 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8335 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8338 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8341 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8344 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8350 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8351 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8352 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8356 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8360 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
8364 @code{nomime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}'
8369 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8370 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8371 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8372 considered to contain just a single part.
8374 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8375 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8376 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8377 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8378 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8379 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8380 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8382 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8383 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8387 @item gnus-treat-buttonize
8388 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head
8389 @item gnus-treat-emphasize
8390 @item gnus-treat-fill-article
8391 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr
8392 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers
8393 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
8394 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature
8395 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation
8396 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp
8397 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem
8398 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers
8399 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation
8400 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
8401 @item gnus-treat-date-ut
8402 @item gnus-treat-date-local
8403 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed
8404 @item gnus-treat-date-original
8405 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
8406 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
8407 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
8408 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8409 @item gnus-treat-strip-blank-lines
8410 @item gnus-treat-overstrike
8411 @item gnus-treat-display-xface
8412 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys
8413 @item gnus-treat-display-picons
8414 @item gnus-treat-decode-message-body-as-default-mime-charset
8417 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8418 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8419 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8420 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8421 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8422 everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead make
8423 them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8426 @node Article Keymap
8427 @section Article Keymap
8429 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8430 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8431 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8432 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8435 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8440 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8441 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8442 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8445 @kindex DEL (Article)
8446 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8447 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8450 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8451 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8452 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8453 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8454 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8457 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8458 @findex gnus-article-mail
8459 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8460 given a prefix, include the mail.
8464 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8465 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8466 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8470 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8471 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8472 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8475 @kindex TAB (Article)
8476 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8477 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8478 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8481 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8482 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8483 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8489 @section Misc Article
8493 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8494 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8495 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8496 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8499 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8500 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8502 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8503 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8505 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8506 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8507 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8508 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8509 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8510 the contents of the article buffer.
8512 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8513 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8514 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8516 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8517 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8518 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8519 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8521 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8522 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8523 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8524 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8525 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8530 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8531 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8534 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8537 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8539 @item gnus-break-pages
8540 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8541 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8542 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8543 paging will not be done.
8545 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8546 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8547 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8552 @node Composing Messages
8553 @chapter Composing Messages
8554 @cindex composing messages
8557 @cindex sending mail
8562 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8563 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8564 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8565 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8566 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8567 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8568 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8571 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8572 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8573 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8574 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8575 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8576 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8577 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8578 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8581 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8582 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8588 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8591 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8592 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8593 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8594 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8596 @item gnus-add-to-list
8597 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8598 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8599 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8607 Variables for composing news articles:
8610 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8611 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8612 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8613 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8614 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8615 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8616 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8617 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8618 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8621 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8622 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8623 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8624 file. It is 1000 by default.
8629 @node Posting Server
8630 @section Posting Server
8632 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8633 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8635 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8637 @vindex gnus-post-method
8639 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8640 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8641 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8642 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8643 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8646 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8649 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8650 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8651 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8652 the ``current'' server for posting.
8654 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8655 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8657 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8658 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8661 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8662 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8663 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8668 @section Mail and Post
8670 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8674 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8675 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8676 @cindex mailing lists
8678 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8679 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8680 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8681 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8682 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8683 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8684 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8685 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8686 still a pain, though.
8690 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8691 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8692 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8695 @findex ispell-message
8697 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8701 @node Archived Messages
8702 @section Archived Messages
8703 @cindex archived messages
8704 @cindex sent messages
8706 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8707 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8708 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8709 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8712 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8713 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8714 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8718 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8719 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8720 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8721 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8724 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8725 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8726 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8727 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8730 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8731 '(nnfolder "archive"
8732 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8733 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8734 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8737 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8739 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8740 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8741 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8743 This variable can be used to do the following:
8747 Messages will be saved in that group.
8748 @item a list of strings
8749 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8750 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8751 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8753 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8758 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8760 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8763 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8765 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8768 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8770 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8771 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8772 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8773 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8778 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8779 '((if (message-news-p)
8784 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8785 messages in one file per month:
8788 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8789 '((if (message-news-p)
8791 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8792 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8795 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8796 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8798 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8799 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8800 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8801 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8802 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8803 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8804 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8805 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8806 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8807 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8809 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8810 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8811 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8812 this will disable archiving.
8815 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8816 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8817 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8818 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8819 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8822 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8823 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8824 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8827 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8828 but the latter is the preferred method.
8832 @node Posting Styles
8833 @section Posting Styles
8834 @cindex posting styles
8837 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8839 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8840 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8841 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8844 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8845 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8846 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8847 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8848 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8853 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8854 (organization "What me?"))
8856 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8857 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8858 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8861 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8862 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8863 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8864 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8865 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8866 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8867 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8868 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8870 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8871 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8872 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8873 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8874 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8875 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8878 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8879 attribute consists of a @var{(name value)} pair. The attribute name
8880 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8881 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8882 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8883 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8886 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8887 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8888 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8890 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8891 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8892 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8893 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8895 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8896 @vindex message-this-is-news
8898 So here's a new example:
8901 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8903 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8905 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8906 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8908 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8909 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8910 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8911 (message-this-is-news
8912 (signature my-news-signature))
8913 (posting-from-work-p
8914 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8915 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8916 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8917 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8919 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8927 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8928 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8929 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8930 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8931 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8933 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8934 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8935 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8936 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8937 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8941 @vindex nndraft-directory
8942 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8943 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8944 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8945 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8946 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8947 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8949 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8950 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8953 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8954 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8955 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8956 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8957 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8958 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8959 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8960 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8961 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8962 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8963 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8964 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8965 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8966 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8968 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8969 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8970 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8972 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8974 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8975 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8976 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8978 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8981 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8982 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8983 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8984 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8985 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8986 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8987 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8990 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8991 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8992 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8995 @node Rejected Articles
8996 @section Rejected Articles
8997 @cindex rejected articles
8999 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9000 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9001 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9002 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9004 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
9005 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9006 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9007 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
9008 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9010 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9011 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9012 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9015 @node Select Methods
9016 @chapter Select Methods
9017 @cindex foreign groups
9018 @cindex select methods
9020 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9021 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9022 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9023 personal mail group.
9025 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9026 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9027 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9028 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9029 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9030 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9032 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9033 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9035 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9038 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9039 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9040 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9041 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9042 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9044 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9047 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9048 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9049 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9050 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9051 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9052 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9056 @node The Server Buffer
9057 @section The Server Buffer
9059 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9060 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9061 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9062 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9063 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9064 backend represents a virtual server.
9066 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9067 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9068 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9069 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9071 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9072 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9073 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9074 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9075 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9076 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9077 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9079 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9080 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9083 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9084 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9085 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9086 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9087 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9088 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9089 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9092 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9093 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9096 @node Server Buffer Format
9097 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9098 @cindex server buffer format
9100 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9101 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9102 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9103 variable, with some simple extensions:
9108 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9111 The name of this server.
9114 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9117 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9120 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9121 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9122 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9123 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9133 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9136 @node Server Commands
9137 @subsection Server Commands
9138 @cindex server commands
9144 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9145 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9149 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9150 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9153 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9154 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9155 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9159 @findex gnus-server-exit
9160 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9164 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9165 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9169 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9170 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9174 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9175 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9179 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9180 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9184 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9185 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9186 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9191 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9192 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9193 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9194 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9199 @node Example Methods
9200 @subsection Example Methods
9202 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9205 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9208 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9214 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9215 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9218 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9219 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9221 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9222 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9226 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9229 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9230 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9232 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9233 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9234 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9238 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9241 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9244 Here's the method for a public spool:
9248 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9249 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9252 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9253 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9254 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9255 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9256 should probably look something like this:
9260 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9261 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9262 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9263 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9264 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9267 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9268 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9269 server that would look something like this:
9273 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9274 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9275 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9276 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9277 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9278 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9281 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9282 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9283 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9284 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9287 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9288 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9290 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9291 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9293 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9294 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9295 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9297 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9299 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9300 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9301 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9302 will contain the following:
9312 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9313 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9314 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9317 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9318 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9319 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9322 @node Server Variables
9323 @subsection Server Variables
9325 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9326 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9327 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9328 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9329 won't change the "derived" variables.
9331 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9332 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9333 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9334 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9335 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9336 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9337 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9338 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9339 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9343 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9344 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9345 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9349 @node Servers and Methods
9350 @subsection Servers and Methods
9352 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9353 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9354 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9355 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9359 @node Unavailable Servers
9360 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9362 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9363 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9364 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9365 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9366 actually the case or not.
9368 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9369 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9370 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9371 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9372 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9373 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9374 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9375 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9377 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9378 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9380 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9381 with the following commands:
9387 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9388 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9389 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9393 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9394 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9395 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9399 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9400 Mark the current server as unreachable
9401 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9404 @kindex M-o (Server)
9405 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9406 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9407 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9410 @kindex M-c (Server)
9411 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9412 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9413 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9417 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9418 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9419 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9425 @section Getting News
9426 @cindex reading news
9427 @cindex news backends
9429 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9430 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9431 or it can read from a local spool.
9434 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9435 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9440 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9443 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9444 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9445 server as the, uhm, address.
9447 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9448 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9449 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9450 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9452 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9453 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9454 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9456 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9461 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9462 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9463 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9465 @cindex authentification
9466 @cindex nntp authentification
9467 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9468 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9469 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9470 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9471 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9472 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9473 present in this hook.
9475 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9476 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9477 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9478 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9479 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9480 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9481 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9482 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9483 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9484 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9485 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9486 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9490 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9493 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9494 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9495 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9496 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9497 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9502 Here's an example file:
9505 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9506 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9509 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9510 have to be first, for instance.
9512 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9513 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9514 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9515 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9516 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9517 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9518 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9520 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9521 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9527 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9528 previously mentioned.
9530 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9532 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9533 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9534 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9535 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9536 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9539 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9543 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9545 The default value is
9548 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9549 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9552 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9553 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9555 @item nntp-maximum-request
9556 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9557 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9558 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9559 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9560 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9561 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9562 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9564 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9565 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9566 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9567 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9568 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9569 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9570 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9571 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9572 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9573 no timeouts are done.
9575 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9576 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9577 @c @cindex PPP connections
9578 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9579 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9580 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9581 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9582 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9583 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9584 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9585 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9586 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9587 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9589 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9590 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9591 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9592 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9595 @item nntp-server-hook
9596 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9597 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9600 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9601 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9602 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9603 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9604 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9605 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9606 functions are supplied:
9609 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9610 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9613 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9614 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9615 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9618 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9622 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9623 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9624 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9625 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9627 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9628 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9629 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9631 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9632 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9633 User name on the remote system.
9637 @item nntp-open-telnet
9638 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9639 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9641 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9644 @item nntp-telnet-command
9645 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9646 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9648 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9649 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9650 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9652 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9653 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9654 User name for log in on the remote system.
9656 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9657 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9658 Password to use when logging in.
9660 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9661 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9662 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9665 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9666 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9667 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9668 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9670 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9671 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9672 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9673 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9674 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9678 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9679 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9680 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9681 you must have SSLay installed
9682 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9683 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9684 define a server as follows:
9687 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9689 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9691 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9692 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9693 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9694 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9699 @item nntp-end-of-line
9700 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9701 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9702 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9703 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9705 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9706 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9707 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9711 @vindex nntp-address
9712 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9714 @item nntp-port-number
9715 @vindex nntp-port-number
9716 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9719 @item nntp-buggy-select
9720 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9721 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9723 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9724 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9725 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9726 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9729 @item nntp-xover-commands
9730 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9733 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9734 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9738 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9739 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9740 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9741 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9742 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9743 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9744 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9745 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9746 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9747 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9748 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9750 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9751 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9752 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9754 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9755 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9756 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9757 server closes connection.
9759 @item nntp-record-commands
9760 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9761 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9762 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9763 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9764 that doesn't seem to work.
9770 @subsection News Spool
9774 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9775 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9776 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9779 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9780 anything else) as the address.
9782 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9783 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9784 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9785 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9789 @item nnspool-inews-program
9790 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9791 Program used to post an article.
9793 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9794 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9795 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9797 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9798 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9799 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9800 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9802 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9803 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9804 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9805 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9807 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9808 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9809 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9811 @item nnspool-active-file
9812 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9813 The path to the active file.
9815 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9816 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9817 The path to the group descriptions file.
9819 @item nnspool-history-file
9820 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9821 The path to the news history file.
9823 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9824 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9825 The path to the active date file.
9827 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9828 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9829 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9832 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9833 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9835 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9836 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9837 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9843 @section Getting Mail
9844 @cindex reading mail
9847 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9851 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9852 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9853 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
9854 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9855 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9856 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9857 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9858 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9859 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9860 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9861 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9865 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9866 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9868 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9869 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9870 and things will happen automatically.
9872 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9873 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9876 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9877 '((nnml "private")))
9880 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9881 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9882 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9883 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9884 like any other group.
9886 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9889 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9890 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9891 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9895 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9896 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9897 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9900 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9901 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9902 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9905 @node Splitting Mail
9906 @subsection Splitting Mail
9907 @cindex splitting mail
9908 @cindex mail splitting
9910 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9911 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9912 to be split into groups.
9915 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9916 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9917 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9921 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9922 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9923 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9924 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9925 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9926 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9927 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9930 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9933 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9934 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9935 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9936 mail belongs in that group.
9938 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9939 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9940 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9941 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9942 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9943 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9945 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9946 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9947 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9948 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9949 thinks should carry this mail message.
9951 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9952 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9953 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9954 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9956 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9957 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9958 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9959 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9960 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9962 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9965 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9966 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9967 links. If that's the case for you, set
9968 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9969 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9971 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9972 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9973 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9974 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9976 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9977 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9978 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9979 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9980 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9981 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9982 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9983 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9988 @subsection Mail Sources
9990 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
9991 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
9994 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
9995 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
9996 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10000 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10001 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10003 @cindex mail server
10006 @cindex mail source
10008 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by creating a @dfn{mail source
10014 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10017 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10018 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10019 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10022 The following mail source types are available:
10026 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10032 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10033 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10036 An example file mail source:
10039 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10042 Or using the default path:
10049 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10050 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10056 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10060 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10064 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10065 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10066 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10067 predicate are considered.
10071 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10075 An example directory mail source:
10078 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10083 Get mail from a POP server.
10089 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10090 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10093 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10096 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10100 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10104 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10105 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10108 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10111 The valid format specifier characters are:
10115 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10116 included in this string.
10119 The name of the server.
10122 The port number of the server.
10125 The user name to use.
10128 The password to use.
10131 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10132 corresponding keywords.
10135 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10136 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10139 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10140 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10143 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10144 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10147 @item :authentication
10148 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10149 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10154 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10155 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10157 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10158 default user name, and default fetcher:
10164 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10167 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10168 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10171 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10174 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10178 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox currently only
10179 supported by qmail, where each file in a special directory contains
10186 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10187 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10189 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10190 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10191 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the following example.
10195 An example maildir mail source:
10198 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10204 @node Mail Source Customization
10205 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10207 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10208 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10212 @item mail-source-movemail-program
10213 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
10214 A command to be executed to move mail from the inbox. The default is
10217 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be
10218 called with two parameters -- the name of the INBOX file, and the file
10221 @item mail-source-movemail-args
10222 @vindex mail-source-movemail-args
10223 Extra arguments to give to the command described above.
10225 @item mail-source-crash-box
10226 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10227 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10228 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10230 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10231 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10232 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10234 @item mail-source-directory
10235 @vindex mail-source-directory
10236 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10237 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10238 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10241 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10242 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10243 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10248 @node Fetching Mail
10249 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10251 @vindex mail-sources
10252 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10253 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10254 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10255 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10257 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10258 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10261 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10262 mail server, you'd say something like:
10267 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10268 :password "secret")))
10271 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10275 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10276 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10279 :password "secret")))
10283 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10284 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10285 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10286 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10287 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10288 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10292 @node Mail Backend Variables
10293 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10295 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10299 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10300 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10301 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10302 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10304 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10305 @item nnmail-split-hook
10306 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10307 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10308 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10309 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10310 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10311 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10312 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10313 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10314 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10317 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10318 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10319 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10320 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10321 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10322 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10323 starting to handle the new mail) and
10324 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10325 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10326 default file modes the new mail files get:
10329 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10330 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10332 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10333 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10336 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10337 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10338 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10339 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10340 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10341 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10342 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10344 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10345 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10346 @findex delete-file
10347 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10349 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10350 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10351 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10352 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10353 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10358 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10359 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10360 @cindex mail splitting
10361 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10363 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10364 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10365 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10366 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10367 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10368 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10370 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10373 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10374 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10375 ;; from real errors.
10376 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10378 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10379 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10380 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10381 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10382 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10383 ;; Other mailing lists...
10384 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10385 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10387 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10388 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10392 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10393 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10394 the five possible split syntaxes:
10399 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10400 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10404 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
10405 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
10406 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
10409 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10410 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10411 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10412 be stored in one or more groups.
10415 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10416 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10419 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10420 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10423 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10424 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10425 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10429 @var{(! FUNC SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first element
10430 is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be called as a
10431 function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should return a split.
10434 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10438 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10439 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10440 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10441 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10442 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10444 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10445 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10446 are expanded as specified by the variable
10447 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10448 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10451 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10452 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10453 when all this splitting is performed.
10455 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10456 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10457 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10460 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10463 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10464 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10466 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10467 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10468 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10469 groupings 1 through 9.
10472 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10473 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10475 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10476 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10477 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10480 Doing so can be quite easy.
10482 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10483 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10484 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10485 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10486 your @code{nnml} groups.
10492 Go to the group buffer.
10495 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10496 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10499 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10502 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10503 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10506 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10507 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10510 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10511 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10512 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10513 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10514 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10516 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10517 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10518 using the new mail backend.
10521 @node Expiring Mail
10522 @subsection Expiring Mail
10523 @cindex article expiry
10525 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10526 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10527 different approach to mail reading.
10529 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10530 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10531 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10532 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10533 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10534 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10537 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10538 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10539 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10540 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10541 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10542 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10543 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10544 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10546 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10547 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10548 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10549 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10550 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10551 column in the summary buffer.
10553 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10554 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10555 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10556 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10559 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10561 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10562 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10563 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10566 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10567 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10568 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10569 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10570 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10572 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10573 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10576 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10577 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10580 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10581 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10583 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10584 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10585 don't really mix very well.
10587 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10588 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10589 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10590 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10593 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10594 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10595 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10596 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10599 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10601 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10603 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10605 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10607 ((string= group "important")
10613 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10614 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10616 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10617 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10618 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10621 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10622 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10624 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10625 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10626 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10627 easier for procmail users.
10629 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10630 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10631 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10632 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10633 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10634 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10635 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10636 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10637 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10638 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10639 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10640 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10641 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10644 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10646 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10647 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10648 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10649 auto-expire turned on.
10653 @subsection Washing Mail
10654 @cindex mail washing
10655 @cindex list server brain damage
10656 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10658 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10659 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10660 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10661 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10662 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10663 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10665 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10666 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10667 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10670 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10671 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10672 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10673 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10676 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10677 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10678 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10679 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10680 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10683 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10684 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10685 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10686 Emacs running on MS machines.
10690 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10691 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10692 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10693 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10696 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10697 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10698 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10699 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10701 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10702 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10703 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10704 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10705 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10706 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10707 also be a list of regexp.
10709 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10710 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10713 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10714 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10717 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10718 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10719 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10721 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10722 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10724 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
10725 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
10726 @code{References} headers.
10730 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10731 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10732 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10736 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10737 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10738 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10745 @subsection Duplicates
10747 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10748 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10749 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10750 @cindex duplicate mails
10751 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10752 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10753 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10754 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10755 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10756 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10757 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10758 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10759 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10760 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10761 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10762 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10763 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10765 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10766 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10767 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10768 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10770 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10773 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10774 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10778 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10779 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10780 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10781 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10782 (any mail "mail.misc")
10789 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10790 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10795 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10796 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10797 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10798 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10799 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10802 @node Not Reading Mail
10803 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10805 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10806 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10807 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10809 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
10810 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
10811 mail, which should help.
10813 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10814 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10815 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10816 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10817 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10818 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10819 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10820 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10821 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10822 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10823 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10825 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10826 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10830 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10831 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10833 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10834 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10835 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10837 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
10838 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
10839 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
10840 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
10843 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10844 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10845 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10846 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10847 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10851 @node Unix Mail Box
10852 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10854 @cindex unix mail box
10856 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10857 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10858 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10859 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10860 which group it belongs in.
10862 Virtual server settings:
10865 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10866 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10867 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10869 @item nnmbox-active-file
10870 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10871 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10873 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10874 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10875 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10881 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10885 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10886 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10887 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10888 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10889 article to say which group it belongs in.
10891 Virtual server settings:
10894 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10895 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10896 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10898 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10899 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10900 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10902 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10903 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10904 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10909 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10911 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10913 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10914 format. It should be used with some caution.
10916 @vindex nnml-directory
10917 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10918 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10919 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10920 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10922 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10925 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10926 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10927 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10928 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10929 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10930 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10931 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10932 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10934 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10935 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10936 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10937 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10939 Virtual server settings:
10942 @item nnml-directory
10943 @vindex nnml-directory
10944 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10946 @item nnml-active-file
10947 @vindex nnml-active-file
10948 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10950 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10951 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10952 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10955 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10956 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10957 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10959 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10960 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10961 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10963 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10964 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10965 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10967 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10968 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10969 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10973 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10974 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10975 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10976 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10977 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10978 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10979 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10984 @subsubsection MH Spool
10986 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10988 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10989 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10990 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10991 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10993 Virtual server settings:
10996 @item nnmh-directory
10997 @vindex nnmh-directory
10998 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11000 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11001 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11002 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11005 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11006 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11007 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11008 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11009 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11010 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11011 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11016 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11018 @cindex mbox folders
11019 @cindex mail folders
11021 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11022 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11023 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11026 Virtual server settings:
11029 @item nnfolder-directory
11030 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11031 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11033 @item nnfolder-active-file
11034 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11035 The name of the active file.
11037 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11038 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11039 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11041 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11042 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11043 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11045 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11046 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11047 @cindex backup files
11048 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11049 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11050 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11051 your @file{.emacs} file:
11054 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11055 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11057 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11060 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11061 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11062 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11063 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11064 extract some information from it before removing it.
11069 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11070 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11071 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11072 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11073 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11074 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11078 @node Other Sources
11079 @section Other Sources
11081 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
11082 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
11086 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
11087 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
11088 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
11089 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
11090 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11091 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
11095 @node Directory Groups
11096 @subsection Directory Groups
11098 @cindex directory groups
11100 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
11101 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
11104 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
11105 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
11106 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
11107 backend to read directories. Big deal.
11109 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
11110 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
11111 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
11112 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
11113 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
11115 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
11117 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
11118 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
11119 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
11120 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
11123 @node Anything Groups
11124 @subsection Anything Groups
11127 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
11128 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
11129 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
11132 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
11133 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
11134 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
11135 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
11136 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
11137 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
11138 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
11139 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
11140 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
11141 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
11144 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
11145 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
11146 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
11147 in the article buffer, just as usual.
11149 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
11150 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
11151 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
11152 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
11154 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
11155 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
11156 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
11157 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
11158 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
11159 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
11160 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
11161 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
11166 @item nneething-map-file-directory
11167 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
11168 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
11169 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
11171 @item nneething-exclude-files
11172 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
11173 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
11174 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
11176 @item nneething-include-files
11177 @vindex nneething-include-files
11178 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
11179 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
11181 @item nneething-map-file
11182 @vindex nneething-map-file
11183 Name of the map files.
11187 @node Document Groups
11188 @subsection Document Groups
11190 @cindex documentation group
11193 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
11194 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
11201 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
11206 The standard Unix mbox file.
11208 @cindex MMDF mail box
11210 The MMDF mail box format.
11213 Several news articles appended into a file.
11216 @cindex rnews batch files
11217 The rnews batch transport format.
11218 @cindex forwarded messages
11221 Forwarded articles.
11224 MIME multipart messages.
11226 @item standard-digest
11227 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
11230 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
11233 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
11234 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
11235 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
11238 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
11239 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
11240 group. And that's it.
11242 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
11243 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
11244 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
11245 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
11246 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
11247 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
11248 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
11249 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
11250 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
11251 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
11253 Virtual server variables:
11256 @item nndoc-article-type
11257 @vindex nndoc-article-type
11258 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
11259 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
11260 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
11261 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
11263 @item nndoc-post-type
11264 @vindex nndoc-post-type
11265 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
11266 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
11271 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
11275 @node Document Server Internals
11276 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
11278 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
11279 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
11280 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
11281 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
11283 First, here's an example document type definition:
11287 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
11288 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
11291 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
11292 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
11293 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
11294 types can be defined with very few settings:
11297 @item first-article
11298 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
11299 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
11302 @item article-begin
11303 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
11304 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
11306 @item head-begin-function
11307 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
11310 @item nndoc-head-begin
11311 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
11314 @item nndoc-head-end
11315 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
11316 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
11318 @item body-begin-function
11319 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
11323 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
11326 @item body-end-function
11327 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
11331 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
11334 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11335 regexp will be totally ignored.
11339 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11340 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11341 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11342 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11343 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11346 @item prepare-body-function
11347 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11348 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11349 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11351 @item article-transform-function
11352 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11353 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11354 body of the article.
11356 @item generate-head-function
11357 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11358 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11359 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11360 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11364 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11369 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11370 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11371 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11372 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11373 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11374 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11375 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11376 (subtype digest guess))
11379 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11380 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11381 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11382 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11383 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11385 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11386 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11387 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11388 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11389 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
11390 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11391 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11392 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11393 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11394 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11402 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11403 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11404 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11406 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11407 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11408 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11411 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11412 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11413 that interested in doing things properly.
11415 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11416 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11419 First some terminology:
11424 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11425 get news and/or mail from.
11428 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11429 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11432 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11436 @item message packets
11437 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11438 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11439 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11441 @item response packets
11442 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11443 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11444 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11454 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11455 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11456 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11457 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11460 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11463 You put the packet in your home directory.
11466 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11467 the native or secondary server.
11470 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11471 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11474 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11478 You transfer this packet to the server.
11481 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11484 You then repeat until you die.
11488 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11489 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11492 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11493 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11494 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11498 @node SOUP Commands
11499 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11501 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11505 @kindex G s b (Group)
11506 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11507 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11508 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11509 process/prefix convention.
11512 @kindex G s w (Group)
11513 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11514 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11517 @kindex G s s (Group)
11518 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11519 Send all replies from the replies packet
11520 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11523 @kindex G s p (Group)
11524 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11525 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11528 @kindex G s r (Group)
11529 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11530 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11533 @kindex O s (Summary)
11534 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11535 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11536 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11537 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11542 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11547 @item gnus-soup-directory
11548 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11549 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11550 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11552 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11553 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11554 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11555 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11557 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11558 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11559 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11560 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11562 @item gnus-soup-packer
11563 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11564 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11565 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11567 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11568 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11569 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11570 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11572 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11573 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11574 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11576 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11577 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11578 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11579 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11585 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11588 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11589 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11590 you can read them at leisure.
11592 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11596 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11597 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11598 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11599 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11601 @item nnsoup-directory
11602 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11603 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11604 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11606 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11607 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11608 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11609 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11611 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11612 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11613 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11614 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11615 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11617 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11618 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11619 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11620 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11622 @item nnsoup-active-file
11623 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11624 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11625 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11626 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11627 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11629 @item nnsoup-packer
11630 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11631 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11632 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11634 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11635 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11636 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11637 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11639 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11640 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11641 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11644 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11645 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11646 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11649 @item nnsoup-always-save
11650 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11651 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11657 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11659 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11660 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11661 more for that to happen.
11663 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11664 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11665 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11668 In specific, this is what it does:
11671 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11672 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11675 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11676 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11677 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11681 @subsection Web Searches
11685 @cindex InReference
11686 @cindex Usenet searches
11687 @cindex searching the Usenet
11689 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11690 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11691 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11692 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11693 searches without having to use a browser.
11695 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11696 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11697 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11698 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11699 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11701 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11702 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11703 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11704 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11705 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11706 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11707 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11708 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11709 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11710 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11713 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11714 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11715 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11716 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11717 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11718 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11720 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11721 to use @code{nnweb}.
11723 Virtual server variables:
11728 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11729 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11733 @vindex nnweb-search
11734 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11736 @item nnweb-max-hits
11737 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11738 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11741 @item nnweb-type-definition
11742 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11743 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11744 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11749 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11753 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11756 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11759 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11763 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11770 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11771 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11772 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11775 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11776 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11777 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11779 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11785 @item nngateway-address
11786 @vindex nngateway-address
11787 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11789 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11790 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11791 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11792 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11793 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11794 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11795 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11798 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11799 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11800 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11803 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11806 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11809 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11812 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11814 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11817 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11818 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11819 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11821 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11823 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11824 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11825 @code{nngateway-address}.
11830 (setq gnus-post-method
11831 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11832 (nngateway-header-transformation
11833 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11841 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11844 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11848 @node Combined Groups
11849 @section Combined Groups
11851 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11855 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11856 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11860 @node Virtual Groups
11861 @subsection Virtual Groups
11863 @cindex virtual groups
11864 @cindex merging groups
11866 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11869 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11870 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11871 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11873 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11874 regexp to match component groups.
11876 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11877 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11878 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11879 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11880 the virtual group.)
11882 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11883 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11886 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11889 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11890 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11892 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11893 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11894 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11895 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11898 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11901 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11902 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11903 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11905 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11906 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11907 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11908 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11909 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11911 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11912 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11913 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11915 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11916 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11917 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11918 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11919 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11920 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11921 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11922 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11923 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11924 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11925 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11927 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11928 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11929 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11930 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11931 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11932 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11933 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11935 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11936 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11940 @node Kibozed Groups
11941 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11945 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11946 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11947 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11948 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11950 @kindex G k (Group)
11951 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11954 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11955 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11956 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11957 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11959 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11960 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11961 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11963 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11964 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11965 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11966 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11967 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11968 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11969 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11970 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11972 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11973 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11974 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11975 Stranger things have happened.
11977 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11978 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11980 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11981 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11982 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11983 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11984 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11985 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11987 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11988 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11991 @node Gnus Unplugged
11992 @section Gnus Unplugged
11997 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11999 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
12000 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
12001 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
12002 read news. Believe it or not.
12004 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
12005 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
12006 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
12007 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
12008 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
12010 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
12011 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
12012 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
12013 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
12014 reading news on a machine.
12016 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
12020 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
12021 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
12025 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
12026 @file{.gnus.el} file:
12033 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
12035 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
12038 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
12039 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
12040 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
12041 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
12042 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
12043 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
12044 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
12045 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
12046 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
12051 @subsection Agent Basics
12053 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
12055 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
12056 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
12057 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
12058 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
12060 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
12061 connected to the net continuously.
12063 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
12064 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
12066 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
12071 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
12072 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
12073 already fetched while in this mode.
12076 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
12077 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
12078 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
12081 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
12082 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
12083 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
12084 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
12087 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
12088 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
12089 then you read the news offline.
12092 And then you go to step 2.
12095 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
12101 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
12102 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
12103 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
12104 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
12105 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
12106 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
12109 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
12116 @node Agent Categories
12117 @subsection Agent Categories
12119 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
12120 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
12121 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
12122 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
12123 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
12124 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
12125 you're interested in the articles anyway.
12127 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
12128 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
12129 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
12130 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
12131 managing categories.
12134 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
12135 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
12136 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
12140 @node Category Syntax
12141 @subsubsection Category Syntax
12143 A category consists of two things.
12147 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
12148 are eligible for downloading; and
12151 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
12152 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
12153 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
12156 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
12157 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
12158 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
12159 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
12161 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
12162 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
12163 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
12165 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
12166 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
12167 operators sprinkled in between.
12169 Perhaps some examples are in order.
12171 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
12172 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
12178 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
12179 short (for some value of ``short'').
12181 Here's a more complex predicate:
12190 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
12191 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
12194 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
12195 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
12196 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
12198 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
12199 you want to do, you can write your own.
12203 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
12204 lines; default 100.
12207 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
12208 lines; default 200.
12211 True iff the article has a download score less than
12212 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
12215 True iff the article has a download score greater than
12216 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
12219 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
12220 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
12221 checksum and sees whether articles match.
12230 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
12231 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
12232 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
12235 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
12236 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
12237 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
12238 something along the lines of the following:
12241 (defun my-article-old-p ()
12242 "Say whether an article is old."
12243 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
12244 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
12247 with the predicate then defined as:
12250 (not my-article-old-p)
12253 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
12254 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
12255 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
12256 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
12259 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
12260 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
12261 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
12264 and simply specify your predicate as:
12270 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
12271 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
12272 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
12273 just don't give a damm.
12276 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
12277 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
12278 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
12279 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
12280 parameters like so:
12283 (agent-predicate . short)
12286 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
12287 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
12288 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
12291 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
12294 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
12297 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
12298 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
12299 predicate is assumed to be a list.
12302 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
12303 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
12304 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
12305 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
12306 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
12307 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
12309 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
12310 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
12311 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
12312 if it's to be specific to that group.
12314 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
12321 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
12322 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
12328 Category specification
12332 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12338 Group Parameter specification
12341 (agent-score ("from"
12342 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12347 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12353 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12360 Category specification
12363 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12369 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12373 Group Parameter specification
12376 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12379 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12384 Use @code{normal} score files
12386 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12387 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12388 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12389 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12391 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12392 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12393 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12394 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12398 Category Specification
12405 Group Parameter specification
12408 (agent-score . file)
12413 @node The Category Buffer
12414 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12416 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12417 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12418 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12420 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12424 @kindex q (Category)
12425 @findex gnus-category-exit
12426 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12429 @kindex k (Category)
12430 @findex gnus-category-kill
12431 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12434 @kindex c (Category)
12435 @findex gnus-category-copy
12436 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12439 @kindex a (Category)
12440 @findex gnus-category-add
12441 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12444 @kindex p (Category)
12445 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12446 Edit the predicate of the current category
12447 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12450 @kindex g (Category)
12451 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12452 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12453 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12456 @kindex s (Category)
12457 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12458 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12459 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12462 @kindex l (Category)
12463 @findex gnus-category-list
12464 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12468 @node Category Variables
12469 @subsubsection Category Variables
12472 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12473 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12474 Hook run in category buffers.
12476 @item gnus-category-line-format
12477 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12478 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12479 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12483 The name of the category.
12486 The number of groups in the category.
12489 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12490 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12491 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12493 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12494 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12495 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12497 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12498 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12499 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12501 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12502 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12503 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12506 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12507 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12508 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12514 @node Agent Commands
12515 @subsection Agent Commands
12517 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12518 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12519 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12523 * Group Agent Commands::
12524 * Summary Agent Commands::
12525 * Server Agent Commands::
12528 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12529 following incantation:
12531 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12533 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12538 @node Group Agent Commands
12539 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12543 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12544 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12545 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12546 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12549 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12550 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12551 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12554 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12555 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12556 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12557 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12560 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12561 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12562 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12563 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12566 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12567 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12568 Add the current group to an Agent category
12569 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
12570 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12573 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
12574 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
12575 Remove the current group from its category, if any
12576 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
12577 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12582 @node Summary Agent Commands
12583 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12587 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12588 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12589 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12592 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12593 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12594 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12595 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12598 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12599 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12600 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12603 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12604 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12605 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12610 @node Server Agent Commands
12611 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12615 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12616 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12617 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12618 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12621 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12622 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12623 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12624 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12630 @subsection Agent Expiry
12632 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12633 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12634 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12635 @cindex Agent expiry
12636 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12639 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12640 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12641 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12642 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12643 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12644 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12646 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12647 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12648 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12649 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12650 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12653 @node Outgoing Messages
12654 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12656 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12657 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12658 after posting, and edit them at will.
12660 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12661 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12662 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12663 messages in the draft group.
12667 @node Agent Variables
12668 @subsection Agent Variables
12671 @item gnus-agent-directory
12672 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12673 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12674 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12676 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12677 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12678 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12679 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12680 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12683 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12684 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12685 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12687 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12688 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12689 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12694 @node Example Setup
12695 @subsection Example Setup
12697 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12698 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12699 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12702 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12703 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12704 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
12706 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12707 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12708 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
12710 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12711 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12713 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12717 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12718 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12721 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12722 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12723 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12724 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12725 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12728 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12729 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12730 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12731 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12732 back all the killed groups.)
12734 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12735 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12736 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12739 @node Batching Agents
12740 @subsection Batching Agents
12742 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12743 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12744 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12748 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12752 @node Agent Caveats
12753 @subsection Agent Caveats
12755 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12756 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12760 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12765 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12766 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12772 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12773 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12780 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12781 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12782 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12785 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12786 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12787 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12788 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12789 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12791 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12792 before generating the summary buffer.
12794 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12795 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12796 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12798 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12799 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12800 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12801 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12804 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12805 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12806 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12807 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12808 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12809 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12810 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12811 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12812 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12813 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12814 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12815 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12816 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12817 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12818 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12819 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12823 @node Summary Score Commands
12824 @section Summary Score Commands
12825 @cindex score commands
12827 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12828 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12829 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12830 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12831 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12833 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12834 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12835 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12836 score file the current one.
12838 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12843 @kindex V s (Summary)
12844 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12845 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12848 @kindex V S (Summary)
12849 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12850 Display the score of the current article
12851 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12854 @kindex V t (Summary)
12855 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12856 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12857 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12860 @kindex V R (Summary)
12861 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12862 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12863 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12864 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12865 effect you're having.
12868 @kindex V c (Summary)
12869 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12870 Make a different score file the current
12871 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12874 @kindex V e (Summary)
12875 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12876 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12877 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12881 @kindex V f (Summary)
12882 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12883 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12884 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12887 @kindex V F (Summary)
12888 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12889 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12890 after editing score files.
12893 @kindex V C (Summary)
12894 @findex gnus-score-customize
12895 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12896 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12900 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12905 @kindex V m (Summary)
12906 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12907 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12908 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12911 @kindex V x (Summary)
12912 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12913 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12914 expunge all articles below this score
12915 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12918 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12919 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12922 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12923 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12927 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12928 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12930 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12931 keys are available:
12935 Score on the author name.
12938 Score on the subject line.
12941 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12944 Score on the @code{References} line.
12950 Score on the number of lines.
12953 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
12956 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
12957 the followups to this author.
12971 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12972 what headers you are scoring on.
12984 Substring matching.
12987 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
13016 Greater than number.
13021 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
13022 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
13023 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
13027 Temporary score entry.
13030 Permanent score entry.
13033 Immediately scoring.
13038 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
13039 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
13040 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
13041 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
13043 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
13044 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
13045 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
13046 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
13047 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
13049 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
13050 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
13051 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
13052 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
13053 current score file.
13055 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
13056 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
13057 pretend they are keymaps or not.
13060 @node Group Score Commands
13061 @section Group Score Commands
13062 @cindex group score commands
13064 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
13069 @kindex W f (Group)
13070 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13071 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
13072 all the time. This command will flush the cache
13073 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
13077 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
13079 @findex gnus-batch-score
13080 @cindex batch scoring
13082 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
13086 @node Score Variables
13087 @section Score Variables
13088 @cindex score variables
13092 @item gnus-use-scoring
13093 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
13094 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
13095 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
13097 @item gnus-kill-killed
13098 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
13099 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
13100 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
13101 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
13102 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
13103 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
13104 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
13106 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
13107 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
13108 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
13109 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
13110 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
13112 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
13113 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
13114 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
13115 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
13117 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13118 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13119 @cindex score cache
13120 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
13121 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
13122 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
13123 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
13124 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
13125 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
13128 @item gnus-save-score
13129 @vindex gnus-save-score
13130 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
13131 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
13132 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
13134 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
13135 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
13136 across group visits.
13138 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13139 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13140 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
13141 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
13142 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
13143 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
13144 manually entered data.
13146 @item gnus-summary-default-score
13147 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
13148 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
13150 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
13151 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
13152 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
13153 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
13154 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
13155 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
13157 @item gnus-score-over-mark
13158 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
13159 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
13160 default. Default is @samp{+}.
13162 @item gnus-score-below-mark
13163 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
13164 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
13165 default. Default is @samp{-}.
13167 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13168 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13169 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
13170 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
13172 Predefined functions available are:
13175 @item gnus-score-find-single
13176 @findex gnus-score-find-single
13177 Only apply the group's own score file.
13179 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
13180 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
13181 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
13182 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
13183 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
13184 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
13185 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
13186 then a regexp match is done.
13188 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
13189 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
13191 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
13192 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
13193 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
13194 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
13196 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13197 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13198 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
13199 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
13200 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
13203 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
13204 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
13205 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
13206 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
13207 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
13208 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
13211 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
13212 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
13213 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
13214 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
13215 are expired. It's 7 by default.
13217 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13218 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13219 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
13220 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
13221 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
13222 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
13223 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
13226 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13227 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13228 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
13230 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
13231 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
13232 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
13233 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
13234 threading---according to the current value of
13235 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
13236 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
13237 simplified in this manner.
13242 @node Score File Format
13243 @section Score File Format
13244 @cindex score file format
13246 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
13247 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
13248 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
13250 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
13254 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
13256 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
13258 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
13260 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
13265 (mark-and-expunge -10)
13269 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
13270 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
13271 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
13272 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
13276 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
13277 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
13279 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
13280 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
13281 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
13283 Six keys are supported by this alist:
13288 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
13289 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
13290 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
13291 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
13292 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
13293 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
13294 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
13295 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
13296 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
13297 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
13298 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
13299 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
13300 to articles that matches these score entries.
13302 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
13303 score entry has one to four elements.
13307 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
13308 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
13312 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
13313 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
13314 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
13315 is successful. If this element is not present, the
13316 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
13317 instead. This is 1000 by default.
13320 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
13321 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
13322 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
13323 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
13324 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
13327 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
13328 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
13329 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
13330 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
13333 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
13334 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
13335 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
13336 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
13337 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
13338 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
13339 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
13340 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
13341 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
13342 instead, if you feel like.
13345 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
13346 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
13348 These predicates are true if
13351 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
13354 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
13355 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13362 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13363 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13364 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13365 it's not. I think.)
13367 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13368 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13369 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13370 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13373 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13374 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13375 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13376 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13377 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13378 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13379 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13383 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13384 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13385 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13386 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13387 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13388 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13389 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13390 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13393 @item Head, Body, All
13394 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13398 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13399 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13400 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13401 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13402 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13403 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13404 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13408 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13409 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
13410 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13411 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13412 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13413 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13414 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13415 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13416 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13417 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13421 @cindex Score File Atoms
13423 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13424 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13427 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13428 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13430 @item mark-and-expunge
13431 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13432 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13435 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13436 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13437 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13438 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13439 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13442 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13443 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13446 @item exclude-files
13447 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13448 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13452 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13453 ignored when handling global score files.
13456 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13457 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13458 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13459 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13462 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13463 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13464 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13465 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13467 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13471 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13474 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13475 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13476 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13477 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13478 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13480 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13481 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13482 ordinary scoring rules.
13485 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13486 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13487 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13488 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13489 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13490 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13491 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13492 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13493 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13494 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13495 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13499 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13500 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13501 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13502 file for a number of groups.
13505 @cindex local variables
13506 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13507 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13508 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13509 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13510 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13514 @node Score File Editing
13515 @section Score File Editing
13517 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13518 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13519 with a mode for that.
13521 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13522 additional commands:
13527 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13528 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13529 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13530 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13533 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13534 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13535 Insert the current date in numerical format
13536 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13537 you were wondering.
13540 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13541 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13542 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13543 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13544 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13549 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13551 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13552 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13554 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13555 e} to begin editing score files.
13558 @node Adaptive Scoring
13559 @section Adaptive Scoring
13560 @cindex adaptive scoring
13562 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13563 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13564 stupidity, to be precise.
13566 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13567 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13568 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13569 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13570 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13571 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13572 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13573 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13574 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13576 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13577 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13578 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13579 might look something like this:
13582 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13583 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13584 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13585 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13586 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13587 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13588 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13589 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13590 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13591 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13592 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13593 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13596 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13597 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13598 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13599 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13600 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13601 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13604 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13605 will be applied to each article.
13607 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13608 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13609 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13610 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13612 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13613 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13614 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13615 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13617 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13618 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13619 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13620 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13622 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13623 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13624 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13625 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13626 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13627 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13629 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13630 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13631 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13632 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13633 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13634 aspirins afterwards.)
13636 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13637 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13638 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13640 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13641 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13642 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13644 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13645 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13646 let you use different rules in different groups.
13648 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13649 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13650 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13653 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13654 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13655 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13656 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13657 the length of the match is less than
13658 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13659 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13662 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13663 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13664 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13665 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13666 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13669 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13670 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13671 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13672 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13673 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13676 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13677 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13678 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13679 score with 30 points.
13681 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13682 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13683 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13684 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13685 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13687 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13688 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13689 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13690 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13692 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13693 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13694 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13695 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13697 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13698 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13699 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13700 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13701 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13703 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13704 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13705 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13707 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13708 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13709 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13710 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13713 @node Home Score File
13714 @section Home Score File
13716 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13717 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13718 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13719 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13721 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13722 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13723 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13725 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13726 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13731 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13735 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13736 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13740 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13744 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13745 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13748 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13749 the home score file.
13752 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13755 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13760 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13763 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13764 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13767 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13768 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13770 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13772 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13773 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13776 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13777 Other functions include
13780 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13781 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13782 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13783 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13787 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13788 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13789 their own home score files:
13792 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13793 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13794 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13795 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13796 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13799 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13800 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13801 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13802 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13803 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13805 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13806 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13807 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13808 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13809 precedence over this variable.
13812 @node Followups To Yourself
13813 @section Followups To Yourself
13815 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13816 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13817 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13818 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13819 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13820 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13824 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13825 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13826 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13829 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13830 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13831 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13835 @vindex message-sent-hook
13836 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13837 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13839 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13840 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13844 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13845 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13848 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13849 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13854 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13858 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13859 is system-dependent.
13863 @section Scoring Tips
13864 @cindex scoring tips
13870 @cindex scoring crossposts
13871 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13872 the @code{Xref} header.
13874 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13877 @item Multiple crossposts
13878 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13879 more than, say, 3 groups:
13881 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13884 @item Matching on the body
13885 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13886 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13887 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13888 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13889 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13890 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13891 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13894 @item Marking as read
13895 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13896 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13897 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13901 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13903 @item Negated character classes
13904 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13905 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13906 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13910 @node Reverse Scoring
13911 @section Reverse Scoring
13912 @cindex reverse scoring
13914 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13915 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13916 like this in your score file:
13920 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13925 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13926 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13929 @node Global Score Files
13930 @section Global Score Files
13931 @cindex global score files
13933 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13934 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13935 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13937 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13938 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13939 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13941 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13942 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13943 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13944 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13945 files are applicable to which group.
13947 Say you want to use the score file
13948 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13949 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13952 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13953 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13954 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13957 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13958 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13959 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13960 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13961 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13963 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13964 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13966 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13967 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13968 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13969 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13970 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13971 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13973 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13979 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13981 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13983 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13985 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13986 lowered out of existence.
13988 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13989 articles completely.
13992 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13993 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13994 old articles for a long time.
13997 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13998 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13999 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
14000 holding our breath yet?
14004 @section Kill Files
14007 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
14008 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
14009 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
14011 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
14012 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
14013 files into score files.
14015 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
14016 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
14017 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
14018 that isn't a very good idea.
14020 Normal kill files look like this:
14023 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14024 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
14028 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
14029 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
14031 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
14032 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
14035 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
14040 @kindex M-k (Summary)
14041 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
14042 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
14045 @kindex M-K (Summary)
14046 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
14047 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
14050 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
14055 @kindex M-k (Group)
14056 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
14057 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
14060 @kindex M-K (Group)
14061 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
14062 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
14065 Kill file variables:
14068 @item gnus-kill-file-name
14069 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
14070 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
14071 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
14072 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
14073 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
14074 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
14076 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14077 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14078 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
14079 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
14082 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
14083 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
14084 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
14085 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
14086 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
14087 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
14088 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
14089 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
14090 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
14092 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14093 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14094 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
14099 @node Converting Kill Files
14100 @section Converting Kill Files
14102 @cindex converting kill files
14104 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
14105 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
14106 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
14109 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
14110 You can fetch it from
14111 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
14113 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
14114 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
14115 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
14123 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
14124 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
14125 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
14127 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
14128 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
14129 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
14130 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
14131 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
14132 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
14133 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
14134 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
14138 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
14139 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
14140 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
14141 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
14145 @node Using GroupLens
14146 @subsection Using GroupLens
14148 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
14150 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
14151 better bit in town at the moment.
14153 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
14157 @item gnus-use-grouplens
14158 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
14159 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
14160 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
14162 @item grouplens-pseudonym
14163 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
14164 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
14165 with the Better Bit Bureau.
14167 @item grouplens-newsgroups
14168 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
14169 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
14173 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
14174 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
14175 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
14176 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
14177 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
14178 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
14181 @node Rating Articles
14182 @subsection Rating Articles
14184 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
14185 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
14186 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
14187 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
14190 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
14195 @kindex r (GroupLens)
14196 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
14197 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
14200 @kindex k (GroupLens)
14201 @findex grouplens-score-thread
14202 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
14203 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
14204 threads in rec.humor.
14208 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
14209 the score of the article you're reading.
14214 @kindex n (GroupLens)
14215 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
14216 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
14219 @kindex , (GroupLens)
14220 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
14221 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
14225 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
14226 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
14229 @node Displaying Predictions
14230 @subsection Displaying Predictions
14232 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
14233 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
14234 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
14235 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
14236 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
14238 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
14239 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
14240 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
14241 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
14242 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
14243 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
14244 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
14245 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
14246 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
14247 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
14248 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
14249 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
14250 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
14252 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
14253 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
14254 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
14255 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
14257 The following are valid values for that variable.
14260 @item prediction-spot
14261 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
14264 @item confidence-interval
14265 A numeric confidence interval.
14267 @item prediction-bar
14268 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
14270 @item confidence-bar
14271 Numerical confidence.
14273 @item confidence-spot
14274 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
14276 @item prediction-num
14277 Plain-old numeric value.
14279 @item confidence-plus-minus
14280 Prediction +/- confidence.
14285 @node GroupLens Variables
14286 @subsection GroupLens Variables
14290 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
14291 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
14292 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
14293 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
14296 @item grouplens-bbb-host
14297 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
14300 @item grouplens-bbb-port
14301 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
14303 @item grouplens-score-offset
14304 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
14305 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
14308 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
14309 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
14310 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
14315 @node Advanced Scoring
14316 @section Advanced Scoring
14318 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
14319 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
14320 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
14321 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
14322 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
14324 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
14328 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
14329 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
14330 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
14334 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
14335 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
14337 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
14338 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
14339 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
14340 non-@code{nil} value.
14342 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
14343 operator, and various match operators.
14350 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14351 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
14352 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
14357 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14358 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
14359 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14364 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14365 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14369 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14370 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14371 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14372 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14373 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14374 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14375 the ancestry you want to go.
14377 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14378 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14379 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14380 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14381 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14384 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14385 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14387 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14388 when he's talking about Gnus:
14392 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14393 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14399 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14403 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14410 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14411 really don't want to read what he's written:
14415 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14416 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14420 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14421 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14422 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14429 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14430 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14431 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14432 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14436 The possibilities are endless.
14439 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14440 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14442 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14443 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14444 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14445 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14446 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14447 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14448 @samp{subject}) first.
14450 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14451 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14462 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14463 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14469 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14476 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14477 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14482 @section Score Decays
14483 @cindex score decays
14486 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14487 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14488 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14489 use them in any sensible way.
14491 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14492 @findex gnus-decay-score
14493 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14494 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14495 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14496 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14497 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14498 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14499 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14500 definition of that function:
14503 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14505 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14506 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14509 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14511 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14513 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14516 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14517 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14518 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14519 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14523 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14526 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14529 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14533 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14534 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14535 the new score, which should be an integer.
14537 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14538 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14545 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14546 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14547 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14548 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14549 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14550 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14551 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14552 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14553 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14554 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14555 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14556 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14557 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14558 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14559 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14560 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14561 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14562 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14566 @node Process/Prefix
14567 @section Process/Prefix
14568 @cindex process/prefix convention
14570 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14571 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14573 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14574 command to be performed on.
14578 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14579 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14580 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14581 with the current one.
14583 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14584 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14585 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14587 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14588 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14591 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14592 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14594 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14597 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14598 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14599 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14600 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14602 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14603 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14604 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14605 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14606 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14607 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14608 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14609 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14613 @section Interactive
14614 @cindex interaction
14618 @item gnus-novice-user
14619 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14620 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14621 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14622 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14623 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14626 @item gnus-expert-user
14627 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14628 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14629 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14630 matter how strange.
14632 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14633 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14634 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14635 is @code{t} by default.
14637 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14638 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14639 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14644 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14645 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14646 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14648 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14649 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14650 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14651 rule of 900 to the current article.
14653 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14654 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14655 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14656 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14657 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14658 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14659 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14661 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14662 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14663 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14664 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14665 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14666 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14667 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14668 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14669 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14671 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14672 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14673 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14675 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14679 @node Formatting Variables
14680 @section Formatting Variables
14681 @cindex formatting variables
14683 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14684 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14685 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14686 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14687 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14690 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14691 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14692 lots of percentages everywhere.
14695 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14696 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14697 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14698 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14699 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14702 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14703 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14704 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14705 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14706 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14707 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14708 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14709 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14711 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14712 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14714 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14715 @findex gnus-update-format
14716 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14717 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14718 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14719 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14723 @node Formatting Basics
14724 @subsection Formatting Basics
14726 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14727 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14728 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14730 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14731 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14732 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14733 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14734 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14737 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14738 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14739 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14740 less than 4 characters wide.
14743 @node Mode Line Formatting
14744 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14746 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14747 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14748 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14749 with the following two differences:
14754 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14757 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14758 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14759 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14760 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14761 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14762 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14763 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14768 @node Advanced Formatting
14769 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14771 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14772 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14773 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14774 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14776 These are the valid modifiers:
14781 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14785 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14790 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14793 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14798 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14801 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14804 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14807 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14811 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14812 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14813 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14814 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14815 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14816 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14817 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14819 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14820 last operation, padding.
14822 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14823 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14824 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14825 @xref{Compilation}.
14828 @node User-Defined Specs
14829 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14831 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14832 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14833 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14834 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14835 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14836 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14837 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14838 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14839 should protect against that.
14841 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14842 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14843 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14844 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14848 @node Formatting Fonts
14849 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14851 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14852 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14853 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14854 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14857 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14858 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14859 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14860 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14861 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14862 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14864 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14865 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14866 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14867 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14868 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14869 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14870 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14871 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14873 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14876 ;; Create three face types.
14877 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14878 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14880 ;; We want the article count to be in
14881 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14882 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14883 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14885 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14886 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14888 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14889 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14890 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14893 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14894 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14896 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14897 mode-line variables.
14900 @node Windows Configuration
14901 @section Windows Configuration
14902 @cindex windows configuration
14904 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14906 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14907 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14908 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14909 @code{t} by default.
14911 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14912 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14914 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14915 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14916 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14919 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14920 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14921 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14925 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14926 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14927 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14928 possible names is listed below.
14930 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14931 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14934 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14938 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14939 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14940 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14941 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14942 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14943 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14944 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14945 size spec per split.
14947 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14948 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14949 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14950 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14951 present) gets focus.
14953 Here's a more complicated example:
14956 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14957 (summary 0.25 point)
14958 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14962 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14963 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14964 occupy, not a percentage.
14966 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14967 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14968 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14969 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14970 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14973 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14976 (article (horizontal 1.0
14981 (summary 0.25 point)
14986 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14987 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14989 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14990 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14991 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14992 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14993 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14995 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14996 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14997 lines from the splits.
14999 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
15003 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
15004 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
15005 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
15006 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
15007 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
15008 size = number | frame-params
15009 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
15012 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
15013 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
15014 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
15015 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
15017 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
15018 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
15019 @cindex window height
15020 @cindex window width
15021 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
15022 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
15023 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
15024 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
15025 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
15026 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
15028 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
15029 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
15030 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
15031 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
15033 @findex gnus-configure-frame
15034 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
15035 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
15036 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
15037 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
15038 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
15039 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
15040 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
15041 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
15042 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
15043 configuration list.
15046 (gnus-configure-frame
15050 (article 0.3 point))
15058 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
15059 @code{frame} split:
15062 (gnus-configure-frame
15065 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
15067 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
15068 (user-position . t)
15069 (left . -1) (top . 1))
15074 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
15075 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
15076 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
15077 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
15078 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
15079 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
15080 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
15081 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
15083 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
15084 be found in its default value.
15086 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
15087 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
15088 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
15092 (message (horizontal 1.0
15093 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
15095 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
15100 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
15101 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
15102 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
15105 (message (frame 1.0
15106 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
15107 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
15108 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
15109 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
15110 (name . "Message"))
15111 (message 1.0 point))))
15114 @findex gnus-add-configuration
15115 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
15116 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
15117 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
15118 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
15121 (gnus-add-configuration
15122 '(article (vertical 1.0
15124 (summary .25 point)
15128 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
15129 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
15130 Gnus has been loaded.
15132 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
15133 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
15134 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
15135 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
15136 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
15138 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
15139 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
15140 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
15144 @node Faces and Fonts
15145 @section Faces and Fonts
15150 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
15151 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
15152 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
15157 @section Compilation
15158 @cindex compilation
15159 @cindex byte-compilation
15161 @findex gnus-compile
15163 Remember all those line format specification variables?
15164 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
15165 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
15166 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
15167 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
15168 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
15171 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
15172 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
15173 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
15174 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
15175 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
15176 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
15177 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
15181 @section Mode Lines
15184 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
15185 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
15186 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
15187 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
15188 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
15189 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
15190 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
15193 @cindex display-time
15195 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
15196 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
15197 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
15198 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
15199 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
15200 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
15201 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
15202 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
15205 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
15207 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
15208 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
15210 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
15211 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
15212 (length display-time-string)))))
15215 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
15216 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
15217 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
15218 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
15219 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
15222 @node Highlighting and Menus
15223 @section Highlighting and Menus
15225 @cindex highlighting
15228 @vindex gnus-visual
15229 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
15230 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
15231 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
15234 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
15235 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
15238 @item group-highlight
15239 Do highlights in the group buffer.
15240 @item summary-highlight
15241 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
15242 @item article-highlight
15243 Do highlights in the article buffer.
15245 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
15247 Create menus in the group buffer.
15249 Create menus in the summary buffers.
15251 Create menus in the article buffer.
15253 Create menus in the browse buffer.
15255 Create menus in the server buffer.
15257 Create menus in the score buffers.
15259 Create menus in all buffers.
15262 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
15263 buffers, you could say something like:
15266 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
15269 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
15272 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
15275 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
15276 in all Gnus buffers.
15278 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
15281 @item gnus-mouse-face
15282 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
15283 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
15284 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
15288 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
15292 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
15293 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
15294 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
15296 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
15297 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
15298 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
15300 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
15301 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
15302 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
15304 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
15305 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
15306 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
15308 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
15309 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
15310 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
15312 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
15313 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
15314 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
15325 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
15326 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
15327 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
15328 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
15329 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
15333 @vindex gnus-carpal
15334 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
15335 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
15336 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
15341 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15342 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15343 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
15345 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
15346 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
15347 Face used on buttons.
15349 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
15350 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
15351 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
15353 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15354 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15355 Buttons in the group buffer.
15357 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15358 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15359 Buttons in the summary buffer.
15361 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15362 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15363 Buttons in the server buffer.
15365 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15366 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15367 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15370 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15371 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15372 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15380 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15381 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15382 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15383 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15384 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15386 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15387 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15388 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15390 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15391 been idle for thirty minutes:
15394 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15397 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15401 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15404 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15405 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15406 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15408 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15409 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15410 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15411 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15413 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15414 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15415 @var{idle} minutes.
15417 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15418 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15421 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15422 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15423 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15425 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15426 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15427 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15428 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15430 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15431 your @file{.gnus} file:
15433 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15435 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15438 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15439 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15440 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15441 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15442 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15443 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15444 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15445 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15446 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15447 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15448 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15450 @findex gnus-demon-init
15451 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15452 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15453 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15454 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15455 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15457 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15458 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15459 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15468 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15469 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15471 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15472 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15473 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15474 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15477 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15478 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15479 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15480 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15482 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15483 this will make spam disappear.
15485 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15488 @item gnus-use-nocem
15489 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15490 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15493 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15494 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15495 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15496 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15497 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15499 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15500 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15501 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15502 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15503 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15504 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15505 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15507 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15510 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15511 @cindex Chris Lewis
15512 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15513 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15516 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15517 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15518 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15520 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15522 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15525 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15526 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15527 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15530 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15531 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15532 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15533 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15534 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15535 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15536 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15537 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15538 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15539 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15541 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15542 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15545 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15548 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15549 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15552 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15555 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15558 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15559 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15561 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15562 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15563 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15564 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15566 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15567 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15570 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15572 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15580 This might be dangerous, though.
15582 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15583 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15584 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15585 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15587 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15588 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15589 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15590 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15591 might then see old spam.
15595 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15596 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15597 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15598 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15605 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15606 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15607 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15609 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15610 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15611 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15612 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15613 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15614 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15615 @code{undo} function.
15617 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15618 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15619 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15620 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15621 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15622 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15623 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15624 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15625 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15626 never be totally undoable.
15628 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15629 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15631 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15632 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15633 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15634 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15639 @section Moderation
15642 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15643 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15644 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15647 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15651 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15654 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15656 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15661 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15662 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15663 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15666 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15667 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15670 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15671 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15675 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15678 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15679 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15683 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15684 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15687 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15691 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15692 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15693 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15694 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15707 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15708 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15709 over your shoulder as you read news.
15712 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15713 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15714 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15715 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15716 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15721 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15723 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15732 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15733 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15734 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15735 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15736 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15737 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15738 @code{GIF} formats.
15741 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15742 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15743 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15744 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15745 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15747 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15748 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15749 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15750 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15751 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15752 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15755 @node Picon Requirements
15756 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15758 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15759 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15762 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15763 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15764 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15766 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15767 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15768 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15769 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15770 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15774 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15776 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15777 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15780 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15781 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
15784 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15785 containing the Picons databases.
15787 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15790 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15791 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15796 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15804 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15805 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15806 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15807 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15808 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15813 @item gnus-picons-database
15814 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15815 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15816 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15817 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15818 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15819 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15821 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15822 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15823 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15824 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15825 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15826 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15827 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15829 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15830 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15831 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15832 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15833 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15834 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15835 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15836 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15838 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15839 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15840 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15845 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15846 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15848 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15849 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15852 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15854 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15855 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15856 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15857 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
15859 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15860 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15861 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
15867 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15868 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15876 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15877 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15878 don't need to worry about.
15882 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15883 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15884 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15885 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15887 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15888 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15889 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15890 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15892 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15893 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15894 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15895 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15896 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15898 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15899 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15900 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15901 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15902 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15903 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15904 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15906 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15907 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15908 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15909 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15911 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15912 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15913 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15914 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15915 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15916 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15917 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15919 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15920 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15921 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15922 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15924 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15925 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15926 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15927 Defaults to @code{t}.
15929 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15930 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15931 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15932 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15934 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
15935 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
15936 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
15938 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15939 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15940 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15941 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15943 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
15944 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
15946 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15947 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15948 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15949 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15950 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15951 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15952 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15953 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15964 @subsection Smileys
15969 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15974 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15975 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15977 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15978 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15981 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
15984 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15985 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15986 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15987 text and maps that to file names.
15989 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15990 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15991 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15992 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15993 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15994 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15996 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15997 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15999 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
16000 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
16001 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
16003 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
16004 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
16008 @item smiley-data-directory
16009 @vindex smiley-data-directory
16010 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
16012 @item smiley-flesh-color
16013 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
16014 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
16016 @item smiley-features-color
16017 @vindex smiley-features-color
16018 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16020 @item smiley-tongue-color
16021 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
16022 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
16024 @item smiley-circle-color
16025 @vindex smiley-circle-color
16026 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16028 @item smiley-mouse-face
16029 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
16030 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
16036 @subsection Toolbar
16046 @item gnus-use-toolbar
16047 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
16048 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
16049 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
16050 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
16052 @item gnus-group-toolbar
16053 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
16054 The toolbar in the group buffer.
16056 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
16057 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
16058 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
16060 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16061 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16062 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
16068 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
16071 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16072 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16073 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
16074 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
16075 unusual directory structure.
16077 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16078 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16079 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
16080 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
16082 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16083 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16084 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
16085 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
16086 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
16087 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
16089 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16090 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16091 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
16105 @node Fuzzy Matching
16106 @section Fuzzy Matching
16107 @cindex fuzzy matching
16109 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
16110 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
16112 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
16113 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
16114 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
16116 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
16117 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
16118 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
16119 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
16120 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
16123 @node Thwarting Email Spam
16124 @section Thwarting Email Spam
16128 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
16130 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
16131 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
16132 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
16133 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
16134 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
16135 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
16136 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
16137 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
16140 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
16141 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
16142 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
16143 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
16144 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
16145 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
16149 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
16150 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
16152 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
16153 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
16154 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
16155 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
16156 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
16157 part of the mail address.)
16160 (setq message-default-news-headers
16161 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
16164 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16165 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
16170 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
16171 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
16172 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
16178 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
16179 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
16180 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
16181 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
16183 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
16184 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
16185 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
16186 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
16187 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
16188 your fancy split rule in this way:
16193 (to "larsi" "misc")
16197 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
16198 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
16199 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
16200 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
16201 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
16203 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
16204 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
16205 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
16206 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
16207 cosmic balance somewhat.
16209 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
16210 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
16211 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
16212 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
16215 @node Various Various
16216 @section Various Various
16222 @item gnus-home-directory
16223 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
16224 defaults to @file{~/}.
16226 @item gnus-directory
16227 @vindex gnus-directory
16228 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
16229 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
16230 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
16232 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
16233 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
16234 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
16235 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
16237 @item gnus-default-directory
16238 @vindex gnus-default-directory
16239 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
16240 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
16241 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
16242 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16243 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
16244 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
16247 @vindex gnus-verbose
16248 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
16249 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
16250 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
16251 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
16252 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
16254 @item gnus-verbose-backends
16255 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
16256 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
16257 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
16259 @item nnheader-max-head-length
16260 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
16261 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
16262 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
16263 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
16264 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
16265 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
16266 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
16267 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
16268 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
16270 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
16271 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
16272 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
16273 read when doing the operation described above.
16275 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16276 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16278 @cindex invalid characters in file names
16279 @cindex characters in file names
16280 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
16281 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
16282 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
16285 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16289 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
16290 Windows (phooey) systems.
16292 @item gnus-hidden-properties
16293 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
16294 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
16295 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
16296 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
16298 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
16299 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
16300 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
16301 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
16302 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
16304 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
16305 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
16306 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
16315 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
16316 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
16318 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
16320 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
16326 Not because of victories @*
16329 but for the common sunshine,@*
16331 the largess of the spring.
16335 but for the day's work done@*
16336 as well as I was able;@*
16337 not for a seat upon the dais@*
16338 but at the common table.@*
16343 @chapter Appendices
16346 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
16347 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
16348 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
16349 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
16350 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16351 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16352 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16360 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16361 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16363 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16364 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16365 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16366 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16367 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16369 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16370 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16371 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16372 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16373 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16374 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16376 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16377 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16378 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16379 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16381 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16382 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16383 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16385 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16386 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16388 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16389 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16391 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16392 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16394 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16395 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16396 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16397 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16398 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16402 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16403 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16404 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16405 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16406 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
16407 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16408 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16409 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16416 What's the point of Gnus?
16418 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16419 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16420 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16421 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16422 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16423 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16424 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16425 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16426 keep track of millions of people who post?
16428 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16429 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16430 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16431 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16432 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16433 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16434 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16435 every one of you to explore and invent.
16437 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16438 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16441 @node Compatibility
16442 @subsection Compatibility
16444 @cindex compatibility
16445 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16446 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16447 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16452 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16456 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16459 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16462 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16463 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16464 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16465 important variables have their values copied into their global
16466 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16467 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16469 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16470 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16471 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16472 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16473 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16477 @cindex highlighting
16478 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16479 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16480 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16481 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16482 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16483 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16486 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16487 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16488 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16489 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16491 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16492 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16493 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16494 to stop doing it the old way.
16496 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16498 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16500 @cindex reporting bugs
16502 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16503 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16504 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16506 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16507 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16508 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16509 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16514 @subsection Conformity
16516 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16517 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16524 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16528 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16530 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16531 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16532 We do have some breaches to this one.
16538 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
16539 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
16540 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
16541 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
16542 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16547 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16548 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16549 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16550 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16554 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16555 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16560 @subsection Emacsen
16566 Gnus should work on :
16574 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16578 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16579 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16582 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16583 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16584 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16588 @node Gnus Development
16589 @subsection Gnus Development
16591 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
16592 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
16593 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
16594 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
16595 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
16596 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
16597 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
16598 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
16600 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
16601 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
16602 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
16603 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
16604 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
16607 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
16608 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
16609 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
16610 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
16611 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
16613 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
16614 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
16615 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
16616 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
16617 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
16618 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
16619 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
16620 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
16621 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
16622 can't be assumed to do so.
16627 @subsection Contributors
16628 @cindex contributors
16630 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16631 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16632 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16633 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16634 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16635 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16636 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16637 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16638 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16639 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16641 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16647 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16650 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16651 well as numerous other things).
16654 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16657 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16660 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16661 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16664 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16665 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16668 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16671 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16672 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16675 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16678 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16681 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16684 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16687 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16688 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16691 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16694 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16697 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16700 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16704 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16707 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16710 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16713 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16714 well as autoconf support.
16718 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16719 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16721 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16730 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16734 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16757 Massimo Campostrini,
16765 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16771 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16775 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16779 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16786 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16788 Michelangelo Grigni,
16792 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16794 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16796 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16801 François Felix Ingrand,
16802 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16804 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16813 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16814 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16815 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16816 Thor Kristoffersen,
16819 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16837 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16838 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16845 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16849 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16853 John McClary Prevost,
16859 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16864 Christian von Roques,
16867 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16874 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16876 Randal L. Schwartz,
16907 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
16912 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16913 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16914 (550kB and counting).
16916 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16919 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16920 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16924 @subsection New Features
16925 @cindex new features
16928 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16929 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16930 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16931 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16934 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16935 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16936 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16940 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16942 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16947 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16948 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16951 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16952 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16955 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16958 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16959 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16960 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16963 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16964 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16965 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16966 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16969 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16970 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16973 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16974 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16975 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16978 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16979 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16982 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16983 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16984 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16987 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16988 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16989 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16992 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16993 the @file{.emacs} file.
16996 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16997 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17000 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
17001 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
17004 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
17005 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17008 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
17009 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
17012 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
17013 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17016 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
17019 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
17020 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
17023 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
17024 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
17027 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
17028 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
17031 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
17034 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
17035 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17038 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
17042 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
17046 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
17047 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
17050 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
17056 @node September Gnus
17057 @subsubsection September Gnus
17061 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
17065 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
17070 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
17071 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
17075 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
17076 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
17080 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
17084 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
17085 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
17088 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
17092 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17095 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
17098 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
17101 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
17105 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
17106 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
17109 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
17113 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
17117 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
17121 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
17125 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
17128 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
17129 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
17132 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
17136 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
17137 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
17140 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
17143 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
17144 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
17145 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17148 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
17152 The Gnus cache is much faster.
17155 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
17159 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
17160 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
17163 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
17164 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
17167 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
17168 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17171 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
17172 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
17173 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
17176 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
17177 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
17180 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
17183 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17186 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
17189 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
17192 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
17193 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
17196 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
17200 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
17203 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
17208 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
17211 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
17215 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17218 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
17222 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
17225 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
17228 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
17229 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17232 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
17233 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
17237 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
17238 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
17241 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
17245 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
17246 buffer to allow easier treatment.
17249 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
17252 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
17256 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
17260 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
17261 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
17264 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
17268 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
17269 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17272 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
17273 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17276 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
17280 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17283 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
17286 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
17292 @subsubsection Red Gnus
17294 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
17298 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
17305 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
17308 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
17309 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17312 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
17313 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
17317 Article washing status can be displayed in the
17318 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
17321 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
17324 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
17325 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
17328 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
17332 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
17333 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
17337 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
17338 Server Internals}).
17341 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
17345 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
17348 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
17349 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
17352 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
17353 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
17354 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
17357 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
17358 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17361 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
17362 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
17365 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
17369 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
17370 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17373 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
17374 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17377 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
17381 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
17384 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17388 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17389 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17392 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17393 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17396 A new command for reading collections of documents
17397 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17398 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17401 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17405 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17406 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17409 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17410 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17411 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17414 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17415 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17419 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17423 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17427 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17432 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17436 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17440 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17441 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17444 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17450 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17452 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17457 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17458 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17459 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17462 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17463 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17464 group, which is created automatically.
17467 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17471 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17474 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17475 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17478 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17482 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17485 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17486 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17489 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17492 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17493 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17496 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17497 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17500 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17501 control over simplification.
17504 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17507 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17511 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17514 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17517 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17518 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17519 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17522 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17523 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17526 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17530 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17531 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17534 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17535 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17538 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17542 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17545 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17548 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17549 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17552 A new function for citing in Message has been
17553 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17556 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17559 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17563 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17564 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17567 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17568 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17571 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17574 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17579 @node Newest Features
17580 @subsection Newest Features
17583 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17586 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17588 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17589 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17592 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17597 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17598 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17601 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17604 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17607 facep is not declared.
17610 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17611 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17614 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17619 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17620 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17621 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17622 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17623 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17624 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17625 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17630 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17633 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17636 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17638 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17639 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17641 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17643 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17645 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17646 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17648 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17650 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17651 be marked as unread.
17653 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17655 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17657 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17658 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17660 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17662 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17664 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17665 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17667 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17668 articles aren't displayed.
17670 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17672 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17673 make the mail groups killed.
17675 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17677 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17678 and articles have to be removed.
17680 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17683 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17685 finding short score file names takes forever.
17687 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17689 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17691 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17693 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17695 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17697 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17699 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17700 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17704 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17706 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17707 bar and the Gnus bar.
17710 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17711 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17712 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17713 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17714 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17715 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17720 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17724 postponed commands.
17726 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17728 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17731 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17732 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17734 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17735 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17737 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17739 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17740 for backends that support that.
17742 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17744 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17745 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17747 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17748 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17750 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17752 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17754 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17756 server mode command: close/open all connections
17758 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17759 has been changed before using it.
17761 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17763 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17765 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17767 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17769 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17770 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17772 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17773 contain groups that match a regexp.
17775 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17778 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17781 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17782 from subject lines.
17784 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17786 nntp-ping-before-connect
17788 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17790 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17791 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17793 message annotations.
17795 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17797 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17798 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17800 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17805 support qmail maildir spools
17807 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17809 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17811 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17813 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17814 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17816 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17818 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17820 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17821 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17823 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17824 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17826 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17828 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17830 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17831 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17833 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17835 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17837 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17838 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17841 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17843 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17845 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17846 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17848 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17851 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17852 should be marker as expirable.
17854 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17856 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17857 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17859 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17860 Also consult Date headers.
17862 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17864 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17866 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17867 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17869 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17870 into a See-Also header.
17872 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17874 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17876 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17877 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17879 generate font names dynamically.
17881 score file mode auto-alist.
17883 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17884 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17886 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17887 absolutely all headers there is.
17889 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17890 and pipe them to the process.
17892 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17893 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17894 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17896 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17897 the current mail group.
17899 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17901 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17902 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17904 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17905 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17907 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17909 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17910 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17912 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17913 groups it has been mailed to.
17915 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17917 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17919 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17921 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17922 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17924 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17925 newlines) should be ignored.
17927 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17928 groups in subtopics as well.
17930 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17932 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17935 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17937 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17939 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17941 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17943 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17945 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17947 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17948 or the formatted article.
17950 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17952 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17953 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17955 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17957 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17959 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17961 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17962 even unread articles.
17964 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17966 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17968 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17970 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17972 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17974 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17977 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17978 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17980 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17981 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17983 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17985 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17987 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17988 from a particular server? Hm.
17990 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17991 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17993 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17995 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17996 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17998 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17999 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
18001 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
18002 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
18003 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
18006 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
18007 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
18009 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
18011 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
18013 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
18015 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
18018 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
18021 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
18022 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
18024 command to show and edit group scores
18026 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
18029 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
18031 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
18033 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
18034 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
18037 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
18038 that are of that length.
18040 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
18042 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
18044 asynchronous posting under nntp.
18046 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
18048 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
18050 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
18052 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
18053 a score lower than this number.
18055 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
18057 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
18059 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
18060 so that each copy can be edited separately.
18062 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
18064 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
18065 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
18067 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
18070 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
18071 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
18072 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
18073 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
18075 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
18078 command to remove all topic stuff.
18080 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
18081 and splitting the resulting digests.
18083 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
18085 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
18087 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
18088 matches an alist -- before saving.
18090 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
18092 variable to activate each group before entering them
18093 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
18095 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
18096 starting Gnus first if necessary.
18098 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
18099 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
18101 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
18103 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
18104 of several groups at once.
18106 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
18107 matches some regexp(s).
18109 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
18111 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
18113 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
18115 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
18117 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
18119 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
18121 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
18123 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
18124 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
18125 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
18126 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
18128 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
18129 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
18131 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
18133 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
18134 recently cited text.
18136 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
18138 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
18141 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
18142 server and just read the articles in the server
18144 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
18145 value of nnoo variables.
18147 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
18149 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
18150 listed in each group info.
18152 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
18155 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
18156 should only be applied to some groups.
18158 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
18159 mail-copies-to: never.
18161 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
18162 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
18164 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
18166 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
18169 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
18172 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
18174 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
18177 group user-defined meta-parameters.
18181 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
18183 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
18184 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
18185 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
18186 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
18187 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
18189 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
18190 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
18197 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
18198 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
18200 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
18201 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
18203 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
18204 "Return the date the group was last read."
18205 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
18210 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
18211 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
18212 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
18213 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
18217 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
18218 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
18220 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
18223 They could be used like this:
18227 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
18228 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
18229 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
18231 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
18233 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
18236 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
18239 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
18240 affect the summary line format.
18244 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
18246 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
18247 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
18249 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
18252 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
18254 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
18256 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
18258 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
18260 - For other files, just find them normally.
18262 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
18263 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
18266 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
18267 tell him what you are doing.
18270 Currently, I get prompted:
18274 decend into sci.something ?
18278 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
18279 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
18280 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
18281 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
18284 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
18285 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
18286 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
18287 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
18290 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
18291 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
18297 more than n blank lines
18299 more than m identical lines
18300 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
18302 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
18306 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
18307 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
18308 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
18309 "same" subject for threading purposes.
18312 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
18313 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
18314 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
18315 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
18318 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
18321 soup - bowl of soup
18322 score below - dim light bulb
18323 score over - bright light bulb
18326 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
18331 show-list-of-articles-in-group
18332 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18333 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
18334 if (articles-selected)
18335 start-reading-selected-articles;
18336 junk-unread-articles;
18341 else if (key-pressed = '.')
18342 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
18343 select-thread-under-cursor;
18345 select-article-under-cursor;
18349 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18350 if (more-pages-in-article)
18352 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
18359 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
18360 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
18361 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
18364 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
18365 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
18366 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
18367 the wildcard expression).
18370 It would be nice if it also handled
18372 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18374 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18379 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18380 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18381 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18382 article versions) variable.
18384 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18386 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18387 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18391 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18394 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18395 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18396 (message-sent-hook).
18398 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18401 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18405 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18406 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18409 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18410 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18411 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18414 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18415 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18419 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18422 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18426 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18427 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18430 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18431 value of the signature file.
18434 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18435 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18438 (setq message-tab-alist
18439 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18440 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18442 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18446 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18449 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18452 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18455 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18456 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18459 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18462 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18463 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18464 do more gathering by subject.
18467 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18468 article numerical order.
18471 (gnus-thread-total-score
18472 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18476 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18479 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18480 in the summary buffer.
18483 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18484 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18487 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18488 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18489 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18490 and/or newsgroup name.
18493 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18496 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18499 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18502 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18503 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18504 will automatically get the process mark.
18507 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18508 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18509 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18512 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18516 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18517 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18520 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18521 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18525 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18526 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18529 be able to post via DejaNews.
18532 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18535 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18536 allow them to be displayed separately.
18539 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18540 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18543 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18544 articles that match a certain From header.
18547 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18548 saving living summary buffers.
18551 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18552 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18555 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18556 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18559 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18560 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18563 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18564 (goto-char (point-min))
18565 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18566 (replace-match "`" t t))
18567 (goto-char (point-min))
18568 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18569 (replace-match "'" t t))
18570 (goto-char (point-min))
18571 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18572 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18573 (goto-char (point-min))
18574 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18575 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18580 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18582 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18583 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18584 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18585 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18589 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18592 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18593 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18597 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18598 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18599 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18601 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18602 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18604 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18605 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18610 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18611 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18614 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18615 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18617 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18619 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18620 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18623 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18624 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18627 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18631 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18632 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18635 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18638 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18641 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18644 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18648 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18654 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18657 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18661 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18662 X characters in the body.
18665 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18668 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18671 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18674 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18677 command to display all dormant articles.
18680 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18683 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18684 to something someone else has said.
18687 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18688 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18691 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18692 the displayed version.
18695 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18699 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18702 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18703 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18704 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18708 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18709 in the head or body.
18712 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18715 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18718 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18719 in a special, unique buffer.
18722 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18725 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18726 is less than a certain number of days old.
18729 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18732 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18735 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18736 file, for instance.
18739 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18740 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
18741 dummy root instead of the first article.
18744 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18745 topics for displaying.
18748 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18749 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18752 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18755 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18756 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18757 summary buffer for each article.
18760 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18763 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18767 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18770 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18774 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18777 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18780 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18781 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18784 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18787 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18788 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18791 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18793 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18796 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
18797 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
18800 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
18801 timeout for all commands.
18804 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
18805 It should go somewhere else.
18808 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
18809 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
18810 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
18812 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
18813 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
18815 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
18816 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
18820 Solve the halting problem.
18829 @section The Manual
18833 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18834 either @code{texi2dvi}
18836 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18837 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18839 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18841 The following conventions have been used:
18846 This is a @samp{string}
18849 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18852 This is a @file{file}
18855 This is a @code{symbol}
18859 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18863 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18866 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18869 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18872 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18873 ever get them confused.
18877 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18878 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18879 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18880 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18881 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18882 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18883 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18891 @section Terminology
18893 @cindex terminology
18898 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18899 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18900 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18901 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18902 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18906 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18907 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18908 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18909 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18913 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18917 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18922 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18923 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18924 is all done by the backends.
18928 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18929 default, way of getting news.
18933 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18934 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18939 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18940 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18944 A message that has been posted as news.
18947 @cindex mail message
18948 A message that has been mailed.
18952 A mail message or news article
18956 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18961 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18966 A line from the head of an article.
18970 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18971 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18975 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18976 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18977 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18978 normal @sc{head} format.
18982 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18983 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18984 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18985 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18986 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18987 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18989 @item killed groups
18990 @cindex killed groups
18991 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18992 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18994 @item zombie groups
18995 @cindex zombie groups
18996 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18999 @cindex active file
19000 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
19001 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
19002 is rather large, as you might surmise.
19005 @cindex bogus groups
19006 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
19007 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
19008 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
19011 @cindex activating groups
19012 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
19013 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
19014 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
19018 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
19020 @item select method
19021 @cindex select method
19022 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
19025 @item virtual server
19026 @cindex virtual server
19027 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
19028 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
19029 whole is a virtual server.
19033 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
19034 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
19037 @item ephemeral groups
19038 @cindex ephemeral groups
19039 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
19040 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
19041 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
19044 @cindex solid groups
19045 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
19046 group buffer are solid groups.
19048 @item sparse articles
19049 @cindex sparse articles
19050 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
19051 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
19055 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
19056 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
19060 @cindex thread root
19061 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
19062 articles in the thread.
19066 An article that has responses.
19070 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
19074 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
19075 specified by RFC1153.
19081 @node Customization
19082 @section Customization
19083 @cindex general customization
19085 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
19086 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
19087 for some quite common situations.
19090 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
19091 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
19092 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
19093 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
19097 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
19098 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
19100 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
19101 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
19102 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
19106 @item gnus-read-active-file
19107 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
19108 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
19109 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19110 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
19111 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
19113 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
19114 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
19115 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
19116 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
19120 @node Slow Terminal Connection
19121 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
19123 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
19124 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
19125 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
19129 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
19130 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
19131 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
19132 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
19133 horizontal and vertical recentering.
19135 @item gnus-visible-headers
19136 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
19137 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
19138 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
19139 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
19141 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
19143 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
19144 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
19145 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
19148 @item gnus-use-full-window
19149 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
19150 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
19151 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
19152 want to read them anyway.
19154 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
19155 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
19158 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
19159 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
19160 lines, which might save some time.
19164 @node Little Disk Space
19165 @subsection Little Disk Space
19168 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
19169 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
19173 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
19174 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
19175 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19176 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19179 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
19180 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
19181 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19182 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19185 @item gnus-save-killed-list
19186 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
19187 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
19188 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
19189 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
19195 @subsection Slow Machine
19196 @cindex slow machine
19198 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
19199 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
19201 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19202 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
19204 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
19205 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
19206 summary buffer faster.
19210 @node Troubleshooting
19211 @section Troubleshooting
19212 @cindex troubleshooting
19214 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
19222 Make sure your computer is switched on.
19225 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
19226 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
19230 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
19231 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
19232 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
19233 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
19236 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
19240 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
19241 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
19242 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
19243 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
19244 something like that.
19247 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
19250 @cindex reporting bugs
19252 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19254 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
19255 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
19256 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
19257 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
19259 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
19260 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
19261 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
19262 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
19265 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
19266 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
19267 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
19268 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
19269 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
19270 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
19272 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
19273 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
19274 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
19277 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
19278 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
19280 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
19281 @cindex ding mailing list
19282 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
19283 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
19287 @node Gnus Reference Guide
19288 @section Gnus Reference Guide
19290 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
19291 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
19292 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
19293 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
19296 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
19297 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
19298 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
19299 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
19300 and general methods of operation.
19303 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
19304 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
19305 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
19306 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
19307 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
19308 * Group Info:: The group info format.
19309 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
19310 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
19311 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
19315 @node Gnus Utility Functions
19316 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
19317 @cindex Gnus utility functions
19318 @cindex utility functions
19320 @cindex internal variables
19322 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
19323 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
19324 Below is a list of the most common ones.
19328 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
19329 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
19330 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
19332 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
19333 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
19334 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
19336 @item gnus-group-real-name
19337 @findex gnus-group-real-name
19338 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
19341 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
19342 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
19343 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
19344 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
19346 @item gnus-get-info
19347 @findex gnus-get-info
19348 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
19350 @item gnus-group-unread
19351 @findex gnus-group-unread
19352 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
19356 @findex gnus-active
19357 The active entry for @var{group}.
19359 @item gnus-set-active
19360 @findex gnus-set-active
19361 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
19363 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19364 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19365 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
19368 @item gnus-continuum-version
19369 @findex gnus-continuum-version
19370 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
19371 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
19374 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
19375 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
19376 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
19378 @item gnus-news-group-p
19379 @findex gnus-news-group-p
19380 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
19382 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19383 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19384 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
19386 @item gnus-server-to-method
19387 @findex gnus-server-to-method
19388 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
19390 @item gnus-server-equal
19391 @findex gnus-server-equal
19392 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
19394 @item gnus-group-native-p
19395 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19396 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19398 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19399 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19400 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19402 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19403 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19404 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19406 @item group-group-find-parameter
19407 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19408 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19409 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19411 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19412 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19413 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19415 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19416 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19417 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19419 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19420 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19421 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19422 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19425 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19429 @item gnus-read-method
19430 @findex gnus-read-method
19431 Prompts the user for a select method.
19436 @node Backend Interface
19437 @subsection Backend Interface
19439 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19440 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19441 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19442 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19443 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19444 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19446 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19447 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19448 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19449 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19450 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19451 been opened, the function should fail.
19453 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19454 name. Take this example:
19458 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19459 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19462 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19463 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19465 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19466 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19467 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19469 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19470 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19471 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19473 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19474 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19475 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19476 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19477 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19478 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19481 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19482 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19483 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19484 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19487 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19490 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19493 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19494 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19495 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19496 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19497 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19498 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19502 @node Required Backend Functions
19503 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19507 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19509 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19510 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19511 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19512 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19514 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19515 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19516 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19517 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19519 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19520 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19521 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19522 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19523 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19524 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19525 number, do maximum fetches.
19527 Here's an example HEAD:
19530 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19531 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19532 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19533 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19534 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19535 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19536 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19538 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19539 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19540 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19544 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19545 these in the data buffer.
19547 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19551 head = error / valid-head
19552 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19553 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19554 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19555 header = <text> eol
19558 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19559 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19563 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19564 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19565 field = <text except TAB>
19568 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19572 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19574 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19575 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19577 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19578 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19579 server. In fact, it should do so.
19581 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19582 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19585 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19587 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19588 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19591 There should be no data returned.
19594 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19596 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19597 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19598 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19599 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19601 There should be no data returned.
19604 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19606 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19607 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19608 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19609 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19611 There should be no data returned.
19614 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19616 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19618 There should be no data returned.
19621 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19623 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19624 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19625 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19626 it would be nice if that were possible.
19628 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19629 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19630 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19631 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19632 into its article buffer.
19634 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19635 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19636 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19637 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19638 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19639 on successful article retrieval.
19642 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19644 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19645 making @var{group} the current group.
19647 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19650 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19653 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19656 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19657 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19658 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19659 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19660 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19661 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19662 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19663 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19666 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19667 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19668 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19672 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19674 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19675 a no-op on most backends.
19677 There should be no data returned.
19680 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19682 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19685 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19688 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19689 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19692 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19693 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19696 active-file = *active-line
19697 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19699 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19702 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19703 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19704 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19707 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19709 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19710 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19711 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19712 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19713 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19714 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19716 There should be no result data from this function.
19721 @node Optional Backend Functions
19722 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19726 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19728 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19729 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19730 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19732 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19733 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19734 former is in the same format as the data from
19735 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19736 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19739 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19743 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19745 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19746 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19747 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19748 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19749 should return the (altered) group info.
19751 There should be no result data from this function.
19754 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19756 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19757 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19758 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19759 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19760 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19761 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19762 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19763 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19765 There should be no result data from this function.
19768 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19770 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19771 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19772 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19773 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19774 the mark information to the server.
19776 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19779 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19782 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19783 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19784 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19785 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19786 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19787 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19788 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19789 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19790 not limit itself to theese.
19792 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19793 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19794 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19795 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19797 An example action list:
19800 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19801 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19802 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19805 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19806 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19808 There should be no result data from this function.
19810 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19812 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19813 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19814 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19815 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19816 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19818 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19819 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19820 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19823 There should be no result data from this function.
19826 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19828 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19829 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19830 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19831 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19832 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19833 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19834 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19836 There should be no result data from this function.
19839 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19841 The result data from this function should be a description of
19845 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19847 description = <text>
19850 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19852 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19853 groups available on the server.
19856 description-buffer = *description-line
19860 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19862 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19863 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19864 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19867 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19869 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19871 There should be no return data.
19874 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19876 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19877 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19878 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19879 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19880 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19883 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19886 There should be no result data returned.
19889 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19892 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19893 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19895 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19896 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19897 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19898 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19899 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19900 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19902 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19903 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19906 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19907 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19909 There should be no data returned.
19912 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19914 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19915 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19916 this function in short order.
19918 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19919 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19921 There should be no data returned.
19924 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19926 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19927 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19929 There should be no data returned.
19932 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19934 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19935 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19936 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19938 There should be no data returned.
19941 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19943 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19944 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19946 There should be no data returned.
19951 @node Error Messaging
19952 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19954 @findex nnheader-report
19955 @findex nnheader-get-report
19956 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19957 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19958 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19959 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19960 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19961 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19964 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19966 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19969 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19970 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19971 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19972 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19974 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19975 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19976 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19979 @node Writing New Backends
19980 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19982 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19983 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19984 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19985 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19986 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19989 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19990 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19991 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19993 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19994 package called @code{nnoo}.
19996 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19997 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
20003 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
20004 parameters. For instance:
20007 (nnoo-declare nndir
20011 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
20012 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
20015 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
20016 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
20017 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
20019 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
20020 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
20021 a function in those backends.
20024 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20025 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20026 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20029 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
20030 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
20031 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
20033 @item nnoo-define-basics
20034 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
20038 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20042 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
20043 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
20044 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
20046 @item nnoo-map-functions
20047 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
20048 functions from the parent backends.
20051 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20052 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20053 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
20056 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
20057 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
20058 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
20059 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
20062 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
20063 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
20064 haven't already been defined.
20070 nnmh-request-newgroups)
20074 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
20075 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
20076 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
20081 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
20084 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
20085 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
20089 (require 'nnheader)
20093 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
20095 (nnoo-declare nndir
20098 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20099 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20100 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20102 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
20103 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
20106 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
20107 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
20108 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
20110 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
20111 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
20113 ;;; Interface functions.
20115 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20117 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
20118 (setq nndir-directory
20119 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
20121 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
20122 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
20123 (push `(nndir-current-group
20124 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20126 (push `(nndir-top-directory
20127 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20129 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
20131 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20132 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20133 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20134 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
20135 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
20139 nnmh-status-message
20141 nnmh-request-newgroups))
20147 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20148 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20150 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
20151 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
20152 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
20153 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
20155 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
20156 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
20161 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
20164 The abilities can be:
20168 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
20170 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
20172 This backend supports both mail and news.
20174 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
20177 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
20178 articles and groups.
20180 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
20181 true for almost all backends.
20182 @item prompt-address
20183 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
20184 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
20185 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
20189 @node Mail-like Backends
20190 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
20192 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
20193 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
20194 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
20195 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
20198 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
20199 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
20200 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
20203 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
20204 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
20207 This function takes four parameters.
20211 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
20214 @item exit-function
20215 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
20217 @item temp-directory
20218 Where the temporary files should be stored.
20221 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
20222 performed for one group only.
20225 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
20226 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
20227 find the article number assigned to this article.
20229 The function also uses the following variables:
20230 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
20231 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
20232 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
20233 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
20237 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
20238 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
20242 @node Score File Syntax
20243 @subsection Score File Syntax
20245 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
20246 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
20247 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
20249 Here's a typical score file:
20253 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
20260 BNF definition of a score file:
20263 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
20264 element = rule / atom
20265 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
20266 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
20267 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
20268 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
20270 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
20271 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
20272 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
20273 date-header = "date"
20274 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20275 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20276 score = "nil" / <integer>
20277 date = "nil" / <natural number>
20278 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
20279 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
20280 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
20281 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
20282 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20283 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20284 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
20285 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20286 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
20287 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
20288 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
20289 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
20290 exclude-files / read-only / touched
20291 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
20292 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
20293 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
20294 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
20295 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
20296 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
20297 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
20298 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
20299 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
20300 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
20301 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
20302 eval = "eval" space <form>
20303 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
20306 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
20309 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
20310 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
20311 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
20312 one looong line, then that's ok.
20314 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
20315 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20319 @subsection Headers
20321 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
20322 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
20323 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
20324 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
20326 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
20327 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
20328 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
20329 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
20330 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
20331 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
20332 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
20334 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
20335 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
20336 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
20337 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
20338 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
20340 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
20341 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
20347 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
20348 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
20350 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
20351 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
20352 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
20353 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
20355 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
20359 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
20362 is transformed into
20365 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
20368 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
20369 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
20372 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
20375 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
20376 is slightly tricky:
20379 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
20385 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
20388 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
20394 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20401 and is equal to the previous range.
20403 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20404 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20405 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20409 range = simple-range / normal-range
20410 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20411 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20412 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20413 number *[ " " contents ]
20416 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20417 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20418 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20419 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20420 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20425 @subsection Group Info
20427 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20428 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20429 describes the group.
20431 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20432 second is a more complex one:
20435 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20437 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20438 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20440 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20443 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20444 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20445 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20446 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20447 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20448 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20449 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20450 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20451 this section is about.
20453 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20454 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20455 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20457 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20460 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20461 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20462 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20463 group = quote <string> quote
20464 ralevel = rank / level
20465 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20466 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20467 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20469 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20470 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20471 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20472 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20475 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20476 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20479 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20480 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20483 @item gnus-info-group
20484 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20485 @findex gnus-info-group
20486 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20487 Get/set the group name.
20489 @item gnus-info-rank
20490 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20491 @findex gnus-info-rank
20492 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20493 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20495 @item gnus-info-level
20496 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20497 @findex gnus-info-level
20498 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20499 Get/set the group level.
20501 @item gnus-info-score
20502 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20503 @findex gnus-info-score
20504 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20505 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20507 @item gnus-info-read
20508 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20509 @findex gnus-info-read
20510 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20511 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20513 @item gnus-info-marks
20514 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20515 @findex gnus-info-marks
20516 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20517 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20519 @item gnus-info-method
20520 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20521 @findex gnus-info-method
20522 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20523 Get/set the group select method.
20525 @item gnus-info-params
20526 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20527 @findex gnus-info-params
20528 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20529 Get/set the group parameters.
20532 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20533 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20535 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20536 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20537 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20538 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20541 @node Extended Interactive
20542 @subsection Extended Interactive
20543 @cindex interactive
20544 @findex gnus-interactive
20546 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20547 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20548 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20551 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20552 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20557 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20558 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20559 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20560 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20561 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20562 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20563 @code{interactive}.
20565 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20570 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20571 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20575 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20576 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20577 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20580 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20584 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20588 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20594 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20595 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20599 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20600 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20601 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20603 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20604 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20605 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20606 Gnus, that's very useful.
20608 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20609 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20610 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20611 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20612 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20613 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20614 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20615 following function:
20618 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20622 (,function ,@@args))
20626 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20627 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20628 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20631 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20632 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20633 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20635 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20636 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20637 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20640 @node Various File Formats
20641 @subsection Various File Formats
20644 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20645 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20649 @node Active File Format
20650 @subsubsection Active File Format
20652 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20653 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20656 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20659 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20660 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20661 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20662 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20663 no.general 1000 900 y
20666 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20669 active = *group-line
20670 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20671 group = <non-white-space string>
20673 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20674 low-number = <positive integer>
20675 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20678 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20679 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20682 @node Newsgroups File Format
20683 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20685 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20686 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20687 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20690 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20691 Here's the definition:
20695 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20696 group = <non-white-space string>
20698 description = <string>
20703 @node Emacs for Heathens
20704 @section Emacs for Heathens
20706 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20707 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20708 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20709 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20710 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20711 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20712 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20716 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20717 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20722 @subsection Keystrokes
20726 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20729 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20732 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20733 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20734 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20735 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20736 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20737 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20739 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20740 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20741 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20742 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20743 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20744 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20745 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20747 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20748 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20749 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20750 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20751 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20752 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20753 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20755 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20756 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20757 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20758 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20759 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20765 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20767 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20768 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20769 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20770 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20772 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20773 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20774 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20775 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20776 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20777 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20778 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20781 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20782 write the following:
20785 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20788 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20789 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20790 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20793 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20794 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20795 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20796 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20797 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20799 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20800 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20801 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20805 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20809 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20812 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20813 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20816 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20819 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20820 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20823 @include gnus-faq.texi