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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.049 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 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 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 6.10.049 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 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 6.10.049.
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 foreign
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
484 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
486 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
487 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
488 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
489 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
491 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
492 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
493 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
494 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
495 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
496 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
497 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
498 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
499 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
502 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
504 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
505 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
506 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
507 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
508 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
509 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
511 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
513 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
514 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
515 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
516 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
517 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
518 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
521 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
522 would typically set this variable to
525 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
530 @section The First Time
531 @cindex first time usage
533 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
534 be subscribed by default.
536 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
537 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
538 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
539 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
542 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
543 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
544 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
546 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
547 help you with most common problems.
549 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
550 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
554 @node The Server is Down
555 @section The Server is Down
556 @cindex server errors
558 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
559 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
560 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
562 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
563 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
564 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
565 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
566 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
567 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
568 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
570 @findex gnus-no-server
571 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
573 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
574 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
575 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
576 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
577 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
578 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
583 @section Slave Gnusae
586 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
587 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
588 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
589 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
591 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
594 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
595 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
596 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
597 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
598 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
599 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
600 will be much more expensive, of course.)
602 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
603 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
604 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
605 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
606 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
607 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
608 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
609 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
611 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
612 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
615 @node Fetching a Group
616 @section Fetching a Group
617 @cindex fetching a group
619 @findex gnus-fetch-group
620 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
621 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
622 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
623 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
624 It takes the group name as a parameter.
632 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
633 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
634 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
635 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
636 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
637 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
638 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
639 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
640 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
643 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
644 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
645 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
649 @node Checking New Groups
650 @subsection Checking New Groups
652 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
653 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
654 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
655 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
656 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
657 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
658 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
659 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
660 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
661 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
663 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
664 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
665 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
666 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
667 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
668 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
669 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
670 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
671 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
672 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
673 supporting the function properly.)
675 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
676 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
677 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
678 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
679 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
680 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
683 @node Subscription Methods
684 @subsection Subscription Methods
686 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
687 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
688 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
690 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
691 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
693 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
697 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
698 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
699 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
700 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
701 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
703 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
704 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
705 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
706 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
710 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
712 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
713 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
714 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
715 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
716 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
717 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
718 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
719 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
720 up. Or something like that.
722 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
723 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
724 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
725 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
726 will be subscribed hierarchically.
728 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
729 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
734 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
735 A closely related variable is
736 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
737 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
738 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
739 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
742 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
743 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
744 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
745 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
748 @node Filtering New Groups
749 @subsection Filtering New Groups
751 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
752 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
753 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
756 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
759 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
760 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
761 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
762 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
763 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
764 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
765 subscribing these groups.
766 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
767 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
769 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
770 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
771 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
772 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
773 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
774 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
775 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
776 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
778 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
779 Yet another variable that meddles here is
780 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
781 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
782 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
783 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
784 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
785 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
786 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
787 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
789 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
790 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
793 @node Changing Servers
794 @section Changing Servers
795 @cindex changing servers
797 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
798 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
799 very flaky and you want to use another.
801 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
802 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
806 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
807 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
808 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
809 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
812 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
813 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
814 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
815 functions more than absolutely necessary.
817 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
818 @findex gnus-change-server
819 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
820 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
821 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
822 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
823 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
825 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
826 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
827 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
828 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
829 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
831 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
832 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
833 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
834 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
835 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
836 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
838 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
839 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
840 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
844 @section Startup Files
845 @cindex startup files
850 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
851 information is traditionally stored in this file.
853 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
854 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
855 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
856 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
857 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
858 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
859 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
861 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
862 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
863 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
864 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
865 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
866 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
868 In addition, gnus does not change anything. Hail comrade Lars!
870 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
871 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
872 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
873 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
874 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
875 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
877 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
878 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
879 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
880 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
881 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
882 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
883 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
884 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
885 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
886 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
887 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
888 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
890 @vindex gnus-startup-file
891 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
892 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
893 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
895 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
896 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
897 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
898 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
899 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
900 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
901 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
902 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
903 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
904 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
907 (defun turn-off-backup ()
908 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
910 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
911 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
914 @vindex gnus-init-file
915 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
916 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
917 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
918 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
919 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
920 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
921 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
922 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
923 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
932 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
933 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
934 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
935 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
936 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
939 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
940 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
943 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
944 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
945 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
947 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
948 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
949 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
950 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
951 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
952 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
954 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
955 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
956 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
959 @node The Active File
960 @section The Active File
962 @cindex ignored groups
964 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
965 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
966 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
968 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
969 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
970 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
971 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
972 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
973 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
974 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
977 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
978 @c if you set it to anything else.
980 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
982 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
983 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
984 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
986 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
987 you actually subscribe to.
989 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
990 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
991 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
992 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
994 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
995 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
996 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
997 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
998 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
999 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1001 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1002 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1003 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1004 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1005 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1006 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1008 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1009 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1011 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1012 secondary select methods.
1015 @node Startup Variables
1016 @section Startup Variables
1020 @item gnus-load-hook
1021 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1022 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1023 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1024 times you start gnus.
1026 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1027 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1028 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1030 @item gnus-startup-hook
1031 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1032 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1034 @item gnus-started-hook
1035 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1036 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1039 @item gnus-started-hook
1040 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1041 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1042 generating the group buffer.
1044 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1045 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1046 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1047 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1048 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1049 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1050 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1051 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1053 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1054 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1055 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1056 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1057 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1058 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1060 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1061 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1062 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1064 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1065 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1066 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1068 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1069 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1070 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1071 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1076 @node The Group Buffer
1077 @chapter The Group Buffer
1078 @cindex group buffer
1080 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1081 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1082 long as gnus is active.
1086 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1087 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1088 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1089 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1090 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1091 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1092 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1093 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1099 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1100 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1101 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1102 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1103 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1104 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1105 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1106 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1107 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1108 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1109 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1110 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1111 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1112 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1113 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1114 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1115 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1119 @node Group Buffer Format
1120 @section Group Buffer Format
1123 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1124 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1125 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1129 @node Group Line Specification
1130 @subsection Group Line Specification
1131 @cindex group buffer format
1133 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1134 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1136 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1139 25: news.announce.newusers
1140 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1145 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1146 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1147 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1148 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1150 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1151 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1152 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1153 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1154 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1155 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1157 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1159 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1160 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1161 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1162 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1165 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1166 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1167 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1169 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1174 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1177 Whether the group is subscribed.
1180 Level of subscribedness.
1183 Number of unread articles.
1186 Number of dormant articles.
1189 Number of ticked articles.
1192 Number of read articles.
1195 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1196 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1199 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1202 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1211 Newsgroup description.
1214 @samp{m} if moderated.
1217 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1226 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1230 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1233 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1234 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1235 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1236 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1237 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1240 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1242 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1246 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1250 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1251 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1252 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1253 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1254 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1255 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1260 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1261 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1262 group, or a bogus native group.
1265 @node Group Modeline Specification
1266 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1267 @cindex group modeline
1269 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1270 The mode line can be changed by setting
1271 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1272 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1276 The native news server.
1278 The native select method.
1282 @node Group Highlighting
1283 @subsection Group Highlighting
1284 @cindex highlighting
1285 @cindex group highlighting
1287 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1288 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1289 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1290 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1291 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1293 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1297 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1298 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1299 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1300 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1301 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1302 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1303 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1304 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1305 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1306 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1308 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1309 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1310 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1311 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1312 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1313 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1316 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1318 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1325 The number of unread articles in the group.
1329 Whether the group is a mail group.
1331 The level of the group.
1333 The score of the group.
1335 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1337 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1338 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1340 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1341 topic being inserted.
1344 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1345 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1346 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1348 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1349 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1350 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1351 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1352 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1355 @node Group Maneuvering
1356 @section Group Maneuvering
1357 @cindex group movement
1359 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1360 expected, hopefully.
1366 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1367 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1368 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1374 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1375 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1376 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1380 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1381 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1385 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1386 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1390 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1391 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1392 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1396 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1397 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1398 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1401 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1407 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1408 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1409 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1414 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1415 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1416 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1420 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1421 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1422 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1425 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1426 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1427 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1428 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1432 @node Selecting a Group
1433 @section Selecting a Group
1434 @cindex group selection
1439 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1440 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1441 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1442 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1443 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1444 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1445 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1446 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1447 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1448 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1452 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1453 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1454 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1455 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1456 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1460 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1461 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1462 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1463 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1464 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1465 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1466 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1467 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1468 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1469 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1472 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1473 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1474 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1475 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1476 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1479 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1480 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1481 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1482 doing any processing of its contents
1483 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1484 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1485 manner will have no permanent effects.
1489 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1490 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1491 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1492 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1493 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1494 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1495 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1496 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1499 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1500 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1501 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1502 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1507 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1508 full summary buffer.
1511 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1514 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1519 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1520 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1521 Useful functions include:
1524 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1525 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1526 don't select the article.
1528 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1529 Select the first unread article.
1531 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1532 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1536 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1537 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1538 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1542 @node Subscription Commands
1543 @section Subscription Commands
1544 @cindex subscription
1552 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1553 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1554 Toggle subscription to the current group
1555 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1561 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1562 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1563 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1564 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1570 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1571 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1572 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1578 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1579 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1582 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1583 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1584 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1585 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1586 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1592 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1593 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1597 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1598 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1601 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1602 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1603 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1604 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1605 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1606 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1607 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1608 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1609 @file{.newsrc} file.
1613 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1623 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1624 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1625 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1626 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1627 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1628 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group
1629 from the group buffer.
1633 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1634 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1635 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1639 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1640 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1641 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1643 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1644 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1645 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1646 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1647 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1648 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1655 @section Group Levels
1659 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1660 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1661 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1662 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1663 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1665 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1671 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1672 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1673 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1674 prompted for a level.
1677 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1678 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1679 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1680 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1681 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1682 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1683 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1684 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1685 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1686 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1687 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1688 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1689 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1690 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1691 reasons of efficiency.
1693 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1694 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1696 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1697 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1698 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1700 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1701 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1702 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1703 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1704 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1705 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1706 relevant valid ranges.
1708 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1709 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1710 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1711 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1712 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1713 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1716 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1717 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1718 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1721 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1722 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1723 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1724 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1727 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1728 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1729 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1730 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1732 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1733 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1734 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1735 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1736 to 5. The default is 6.
1740 @section Group Score
1745 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1746 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1747 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1750 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1751 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1752 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1753 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1754 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1755 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1756 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1758 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1759 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1760 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1761 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1762 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1763 action after each summary exit, you can add
1764 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1765 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1766 slow things down somewhat.
1769 @node Marking Groups
1770 @section Marking Groups
1771 @cindex marking groups
1773 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1774 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1775 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1776 bidding on those groups.
1778 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1779 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1780 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1788 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1789 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1795 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1796 Remove the mark from the current group
1797 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1801 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1802 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1806 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1807 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1811 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1812 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1816 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1817 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1818 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1821 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1823 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1824 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1825 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1826 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1827 the command to be executed.
1830 @node Foreign Groups
1831 @section Foreign Groups
1832 @cindex foreign groups
1834 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1835 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1836 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1837 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1844 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1845 @cindex making groups
1846 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1847 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1848 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1852 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1853 @cindex renaming groups
1854 Rename the current group to something else
1855 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1856 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1862 @findex gnus-group-customize
1863 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1867 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1868 @cindex renaming groups
1869 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1870 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1874 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1875 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1876 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1880 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1881 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1882 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1886 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1888 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1889 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1894 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1895 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1899 @cindex (ding) archive
1900 @cindex archive group
1901 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1902 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1903 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1904 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1905 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1906 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1907 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1911 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1913 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1914 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1915 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1916 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1920 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1922 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1923 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1924 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1928 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1929 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1931 Make a group based on some file or other
1932 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1933 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1934 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1935 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1936 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1937 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1938 @xref{Document Groups}.
1942 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1943 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1944 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1945 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1949 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1954 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1955 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1956 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1957 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1958 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1959 @xref{Web Searches}.
1961 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1962 to a particular group by using a match string like
1963 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1966 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1967 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1968 This function will delete the current group
1969 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1970 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1971 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1972 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1973 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1977 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1978 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1979 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1983 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1984 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1985 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1988 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1991 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1992 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1993 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1994 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1995 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1996 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2000 @node Group Parameters
2001 @section Group Parameters
2002 @cindex group parameters
2004 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2005 Here's an example group parameter list:
2008 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2012 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing
2013 before the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value.
2014 All the parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs,
2015 which are not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2017 The following group parameters can be used:
2022 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2025 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2028 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2029 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2030 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2031 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2032 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2034 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2035 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2036 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2037 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2038 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2039 list address instead.
2043 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2046 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2049 It is totally ignored
2050 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2051 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2053 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2054 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2055 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2056 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2057 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2059 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2060 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2061 sending the message.
2065 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2066 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2067 of whether it has any unread articles.
2069 @item broken-reply-to
2070 @cindex broken-reply-to
2071 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2072 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2073 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2074 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2075 broken behavior. So there!
2079 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2080 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2084 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2085 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2086 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2091 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2092 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2093 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2094 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2095 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2096 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2097 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2101 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2102 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2103 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2106 @cindex total-expire
2107 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2108 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2109 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2110 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2115 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2116 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2117 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2118 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2119 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2120 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2123 @cindex score file group parameter
2124 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2125 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2126 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2129 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2130 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2131 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2132 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2135 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2136 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2137 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2138 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2141 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2142 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2146 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2149 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2154 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2155 arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by gnus,
2156 but provide a place for you to store information on particular groups.
2159 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2160 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2161 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2163 @item @var{(variable form)}
2164 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2165 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2166 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2167 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2168 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2169 @code{eval}ed there.
2171 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2172 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2173 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2174 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2175 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2178 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2179 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2180 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2181 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2182 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2184 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2185 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2186 like this in the group parameters:
2191 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2196 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2197 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2201 @node Listing Groups
2202 @section Listing Groups
2203 @cindex group listing
2205 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2213 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2214 List all groups that have unread articles
2215 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2216 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2217 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2218 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2225 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2226 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2227 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2228 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2229 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2230 unsubscribed groups).
2234 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2235 List all unread groups on a specific level
2236 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2237 with no unread articles.
2241 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2242 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2243 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2244 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2249 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2250 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2254 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2255 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2256 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2260 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2261 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2265 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2266 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2267 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2268 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2269 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2270 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2271 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2272 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2276 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2277 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2278 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2282 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2283 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2284 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2288 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2289 @cindex visible group parameter
2290 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2291 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2292 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2293 get the same effect.
2295 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2296 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2297 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2298 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2299 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2302 @node Sorting Groups
2303 @section Sorting Groups
2304 @cindex sorting groups
2306 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2307 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2308 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2309 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2310 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2311 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2316 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2317 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2318 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2320 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2321 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2322 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2324 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2325 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2326 Sort by group level.
2328 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2330 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2332 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2333 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2334 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2335 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2337 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2338 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2339 Sort by number of unread articles.
2341 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2342 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2343 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2348 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2349 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2353 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2354 some sorting criteria:
2358 @kindex G S a (Group)
2359 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2360 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2361 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2364 @kindex G S u (Group)
2365 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2366 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2367 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2370 @kindex G S l (Group)
2371 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2372 Sort the group buffer by group level
2373 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2376 @kindex G S v (Group)
2377 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2378 Sort the group buffer by group score
2379 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2382 @kindex G S r (Group)
2383 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2384 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2385 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2388 @kindex G S m (Group)
2389 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2390 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2391 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2395 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2396 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2398 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2399 commands will sort in reverse order.
2401 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2405 @kindex G P a (Group)
2406 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2407 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2408 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2411 @kindex G P u (Group)
2412 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2413 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2414 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2417 @kindex G P l (Group)
2418 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2419 Sort the groups by group level
2420 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2423 @kindex G P v (Group)
2424 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2425 Sort the groups by group score
2426 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2429 @kindex G P r (Group)
2430 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2431 Sort the groups by group rank
2432 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2435 @kindex G P m (Group)
2436 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2437 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2438 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2444 @node Group Maintenance
2445 @section Group Maintenance
2446 @cindex bogus groups
2451 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2452 Find bogus groups and delete them
2453 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2458 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2459 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2460 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2461 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2465 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2466 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2467 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2468 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2471 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2472 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2473 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2474 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2479 @node Browse Foreign Server
2480 @section Browse Foreign Server
2481 @cindex foreign servers
2482 @cindex browsing servers
2487 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2488 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2489 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2490 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2493 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2494 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2495 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2496 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2498 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2503 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2504 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2508 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2509 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2512 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2513 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2514 Enter the current group and display the first article
2515 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2518 @kindex RET (Browse)
2519 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2520 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2524 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2525 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2526 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2532 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2533 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2537 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2538 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2539 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2544 @section Exiting gnus
2545 @cindex exiting gnus
2547 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2552 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2553 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit
2554 gnus, but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure
2555 why this is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2559 @findex gnus-group-exit
2560 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2561 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2565 @findex gnus-group-quit
2566 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files
2567 (@code{gnus-group-quit}). The dribble file will be saved, though
2568 (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2571 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2572 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2573 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2574 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2575 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2580 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2581 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2582 trying to customize meta-variables.
2587 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2588 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2589 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2595 @section Group Topics
2598 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2599 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2600 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2601 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2602 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2603 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2607 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2608 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2619 2: alt.religion.emacs
2622 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2624 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2625 13: comp.sources.unix
2628 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2630 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2631 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2632 is a toggling command.)
2634 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2635 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2636 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2637 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2640 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2641 the hook for the group mode:
2644 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2648 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2649 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2650 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2651 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2652 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2656 @node Topic Variables
2657 @subsection Topic Variables
2658 @cindex topic variables
2660 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2661 really neat, I think.
2663 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2664 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2665 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2678 Number of groups in the topic.
2680 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2682 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2685 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2686 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2687 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2690 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2691 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2693 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2694 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2695 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2698 @node Topic Commands
2699 @subsection Topic Commands
2700 @cindex topic commands
2702 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2703 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2704 definitions slightly.
2710 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2711 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2712 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2716 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2717 Move the current group to some other topic
2718 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2719 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2723 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2724 Copy the current group to some other topic
2725 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2726 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2730 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2731 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2732 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2733 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2734 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2735 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2736 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2739 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2740 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2744 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2745 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2746 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2750 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2751 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2752 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2756 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2757 Toggle hiding empty topics
2758 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2762 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2763 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2764 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2767 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2768 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2769 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2770 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2774 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2776 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2777 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2778 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2779 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2782 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2783 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2784 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2785 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2789 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2791 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2792 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2793 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2794 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2795 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2796 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2799 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2800 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2801 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2802 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2806 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2807 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2808 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2812 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2813 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2814 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2819 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2820 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2823 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2824 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2825 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2829 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2830 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2831 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2835 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2836 @cindex group parameters
2837 @cindex topic parameters
2839 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2840 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2846 @subsection Topic Sorting
2847 @cindex topic sorting
2849 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2855 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2856 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2857 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2858 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2861 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2862 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2863 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2864 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2867 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2868 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2869 Sort the current topic by group level
2870 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2873 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2874 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2875 Sort the current topic by group score
2876 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2879 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2880 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2881 Sort the current topic by group rank
2882 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2885 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2886 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2887 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2888 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2892 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2895 @node Topic Topology
2896 @subsection Topic Topology
2897 @cindex topic topology
2900 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2906 2: alt.religion.emacs
2909 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2911 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2912 13: comp.sources.unix
2915 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2916 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2917 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2922 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2923 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2927 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2928 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2929 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2930 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2931 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2932 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2934 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2935 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2936 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2939 @node Topic Parameters
2940 @subsection Topic Parameters
2941 @cindex topic parameters
2943 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2944 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2945 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2947 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2948 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2949 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2950 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2956 2: alt.religion.emacs
2960 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2962 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2963 13: comp.sources.unix
2967 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2968 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2969 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2970 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2971 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2972 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2974 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2975 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2976 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2977 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2978 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2980 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2981 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2982 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2983 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2984 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2985 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2986 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2987 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2990 @node Misc Group Stuff
2991 @section Misc Group Stuff
2994 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2995 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2996 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2997 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3004 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3005 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3006 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3010 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3011 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3012 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3016 @findex gnus-group-mail
3017 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3021 Variables for the group buffer:
3025 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3026 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3027 is called after the group buffer has been
3030 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3031 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3032 is called after the group buffer is
3033 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3036 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3037 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3038 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3039 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3041 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3042 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3043 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3044 whether they are empty or not.
3049 @node Scanning New Messages
3050 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3051 @cindex new messages
3052 @cindex scanning new news
3058 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3059 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3060 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3061 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3062 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3063 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3068 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3069 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3070 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3071 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3072 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3073 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3074 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3076 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3077 @cindex activating groups
3079 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3080 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3085 @findex gnus-group-restart
3086 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3087 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3088 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3092 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3093 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3095 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3096 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3100 @node Group Information
3101 @subsection Group Information
3102 @cindex group information
3103 @cindex information on groups
3110 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3111 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3114 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3115 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3116 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3117 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3118 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3119 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3120 for fetching the file.
3122 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3123 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3127 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3129 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3130 @cindex describing groups
3131 @cindex group description
3132 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3133 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3134 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3138 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3139 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3140 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3147 @findex gnus-version
3148 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3152 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3153 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3156 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3159 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3160 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3164 @node Group Timestamp
3165 @subsection Group Timestamp
3167 @cindex group timestamps
3169 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3170 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3171 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3174 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3177 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3179 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3180 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3183 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3184 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3187 This will result in lines looking like:
3190 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3191 0: custom 19961002T012713
3194 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3195 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3199 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3200 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3205 @subsection File Commands
3206 @cindex file commands
3212 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3213 @vindex gnus-init-file
3214 @cindex reading init file
3215 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3216 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3220 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3221 @cindex saving .newsrc
3222 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3223 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3224 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3227 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3228 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3229 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3234 @node The Summary Buffer
3235 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3236 @cindex summary buffer
3238 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3239 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3241 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3242 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3244 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3247 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3248 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3249 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3250 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3251 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3252 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3253 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3254 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3255 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3256 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3257 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3258 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3259 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3260 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3261 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3262 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3263 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3264 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3265 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3266 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3267 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3268 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3269 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3270 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3271 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3272 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3273 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3274 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3278 @node Summary Buffer Format
3279 @section Summary Buffer Format
3280 @cindex summary buffer format
3284 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3285 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3286 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3292 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3293 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3294 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3295 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3298 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3299 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3300 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3301 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3302 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3303 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3304 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3305 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3306 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3307 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3308 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3309 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3310 other function instead:
3313 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3314 'mail-extract-address-components)
3317 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3318 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3319 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3320 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3323 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3324 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3326 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3327 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3328 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3329 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3330 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3332 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3334 The following format specification characters are understood:
3342 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3343 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3344 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3346 Full @code{From} header.
3348 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3350 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3351 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3353 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3354 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3355 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3356 may be more thorough.
3358 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3361 Number of lines in the article.
3363 Number of characters in the article.
3365 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3367 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3368 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3370 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3371 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3373 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3374 for adopted articles.
3376 One space for each thread level.
3378 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3383 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3384 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3388 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3390 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3391 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3392 default level. If the difference between
3393 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3394 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3402 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3404 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3410 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3411 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3413 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3414 article has any children.
3420 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3421 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3422 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3423 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3424 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3425 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3428 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3429 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3430 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3431 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3432 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3433 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3435 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3436 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3438 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3441 @node To From Newsgroups
3442 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3446 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3447 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3448 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3449 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3450 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3454 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3455 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3456 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3460 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3461 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3464 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3465 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3468 @findex gnus-extra-header
3469 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3470 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3471 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3474 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3478 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3479 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3480 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3481 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3482 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3483 headers are used instead.
3487 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3488 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3489 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
3491 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3494 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3496 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3497 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3498 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3499 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3503 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3504 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3511 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3512 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3515 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3516 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3518 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3519 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3520 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3521 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3523 Here are the elements you can play with:
3529 Unprefixed group name.
3531 Current article number.
3533 Current article score.
3537 Number of unread articles in this group.
3539 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3542 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3543 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3544 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3545 and no unselected ones.
3547 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3548 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3550 Subject of the current article.
3552 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3554 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3556 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3558 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3560 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3562 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3566 @node Summary Highlighting
3567 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3571 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3572 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3573 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3574 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3575 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3577 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3578 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3579 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3580 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3582 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3583 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3584 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3585 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3587 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3588 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3589 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3590 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3591 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3592 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3594 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3595 ((> score default) . bold))
3597 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3598 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3602 @node Summary Maneuvering
3603 @section Summary Maneuvering
3604 @cindex summary movement
3606 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3607 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3609 None of these commands select articles.
3614 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3615 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3616 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3617 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3618 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3622 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3623 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3624 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3625 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3626 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3631 @kindex G j (Summary)
3632 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3633 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3634 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3637 @kindex G g (Summary)
3638 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3639 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3640 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3643 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3644 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3645 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3646 to the group buffer.
3648 Variables related to summary movement:
3652 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3653 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3654 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3655 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3656 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3657 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3658 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3659 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3660 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3661 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3662 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3663 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3664 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3665 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3667 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3668 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3669 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3670 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3671 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3672 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3673 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3675 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3677 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3678 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3679 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3680 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3681 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3683 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3684 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3685 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3686 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3687 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3688 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3689 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3690 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3693 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3694 the given number of lines from the top.
3699 @node Choosing Articles
3700 @section Choosing Articles
3701 @cindex selecting articles
3704 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3705 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3709 @node Choosing Commands
3710 @subsection Choosing Commands
3712 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3713 and they all select and display an article.
3717 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3718 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3719 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3720 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3725 @kindex G n (Summary)
3726 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3727 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3728 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3733 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3734 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3735 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3740 @kindex G N (Summary)
3741 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3742 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3747 @kindex G P (Summary)
3748 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3749 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3752 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3754 Go to the next article with the same subject
3755 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3758 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3759 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3760 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3761 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3765 @kindex G f (Summary)
3767 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3768 Go to the first unread article
3769 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3773 @kindex G b (Summary)
3775 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3776 Go to the article with the highest score
3777 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3782 @kindex G l (Summary)
3783 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3784 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3787 @kindex G o (Summary)
3788 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3790 @cindex article history
3791 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3792 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3793 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3794 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3795 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3796 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3800 @node Choosing Variables
3801 @subsection Choosing Variables
3803 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3806 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3807 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3808 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3809 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3810 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3811 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3813 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3814 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3815 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3816 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3818 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3819 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3820 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3821 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3822 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3823 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3824 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3825 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3826 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3827 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3828 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3829 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3830 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3831 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3836 @node Paging the Article
3837 @section Scrolling the Article
3838 @cindex article scrolling
3843 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3844 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3845 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3846 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3847 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3850 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3851 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3852 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3855 @kindex RET (Summary)
3856 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3857 Scroll the current article one line forward
3858 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3861 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3862 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3863 Scroll the current article one line backward
3864 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3868 @kindex A g (Summary)
3870 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3871 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3872 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3873 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3874 the way it came from the server.
3879 @kindex A < (Summary)
3880 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3881 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3882 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3887 @kindex A > (Summary)
3888 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3889 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3893 @kindex A s (Summary)
3895 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3896 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3897 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3901 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3902 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3907 @node Reply Followup and Post
3908 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3911 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3912 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3916 @node Summary Mail Commands
3917 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3919 @cindex composing mail
3921 Commands for composing a mail message:
3927 @kindex S r (Summary)
3929 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3930 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3931 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3932 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3933 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3938 @kindex S R (Summary)
3939 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3940 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3941 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3942 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3943 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3946 @kindex S w (Summary)
3947 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3948 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3949 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3950 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3951 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3954 @kindex S W (Summary)
3955 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3956 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3957 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3958 the process/prefix convention.
3961 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3962 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3963 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3964 Forward the current article to some other person
3965 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3966 headers of the forwarded article.
3971 @kindex S m (Summary)
3972 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3973 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3974 Send a mail to some other person
3975 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3978 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3979 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3980 @cindex bouncing mail
3981 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3982 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3983 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3984 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3985 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3986 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3987 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3988 very well fail, though.
3991 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3992 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3993 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3994 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3995 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3996 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3997 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3998 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3999 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4000 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4002 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4003 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4004 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4005 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4006 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung mu
\e,A_
\e(B sein!
4008 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4009 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4012 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4013 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4014 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4015 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4016 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4019 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4021 @cindex crossposting
4022 @cindex excessive crossposting
4023 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4024 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4026 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4027 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4028 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4029 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4030 command understands the process/prefix convention
4031 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4035 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4038 @node Summary Post Commands
4039 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4041 @cindex composing news
4043 Commands for posting a news article:
4049 @kindex S p (Summary)
4050 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4051 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4052 Post an article to the current group
4053 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4058 @kindex S f (Summary)
4059 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4060 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4061 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4065 @kindex S F (Summary)
4067 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4068 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4069 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4070 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4071 process/prefix convention.
4074 @kindex S n (Summary)
4075 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4076 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4077 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4080 @kindex S N (Summary)
4081 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4082 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4083 message through mail and include the original message
4084 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4085 the process/prefix convention.
4088 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4089 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4090 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4091 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4092 headers of the forwarded article.
4095 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4096 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4098 @cindex making digests
4099 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4100 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4101 process/prefix convention.
4104 @kindex S u (Summary)
4105 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4106 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4107 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4108 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4111 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4114 @node Canceling and Superseding
4115 @section Canceling Articles
4116 @cindex canceling articles
4117 @cindex superseding articles
4119 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4120 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4122 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4124 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4126 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4127 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4128 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4129 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4130 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4131 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4133 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4134 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4137 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4138 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4139 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4141 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4142 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4143 your original article.
4145 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4147 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4148 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4149 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4152 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4153 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4154 have posted almost the same article twice.
4156 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4157 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4158 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4159 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4160 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4161 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4162 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4163 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4164 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4165 canceled/superseded.
4167 Just remember, kids: There is no `c' in `supersede'.
4170 @node Marking Articles
4171 @section Marking Articles
4172 @cindex article marking
4173 @cindex article ticking
4176 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4178 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4179 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4180 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4182 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4185 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4186 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4187 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4191 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4195 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4196 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4200 @node Unread Articles
4201 @subsection Unread Articles
4203 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4208 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4209 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4211 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4212 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4213 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4214 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4215 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4219 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4220 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4222 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4223 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4224 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4227 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4228 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4230 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4235 @subsection Read Articles
4236 @cindex expirable mark
4238 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4243 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4244 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4245 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4248 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4249 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4252 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4253 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4254 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4257 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4258 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4261 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4262 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4265 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4266 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4269 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4270 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4273 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4274 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4277 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4278 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4281 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4282 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4286 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4287 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4288 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4292 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4293 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4295 One more special mark, though:
4299 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4300 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4302 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4303 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4304 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4305 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at any time.
4310 @subsection Other Marks
4311 @cindex process mark
4314 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4320 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4321 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4322 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4323 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4324 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4327 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4328 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4329 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4330 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4333 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4334 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4335 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4338 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4339 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4340 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4341 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4344 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4345 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4346 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4347 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4348 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4351 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4352 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4353 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4354 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4355 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4356 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4360 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4361 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4362 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4364 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4365 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4366 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4370 @subsection Setting Marks
4371 @cindex setting marks
4373 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4378 @kindex M c (Summary)
4379 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4380 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4381 @cindex mark as unread
4382 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4383 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4389 @kindex M t (Summary)
4390 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4391 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4392 @xref{Article Caching}.
4397 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4398 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4399 Mark the current article as dormant
4400 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4404 @kindex M d (Summary)
4406 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4407 Mark the current article as read
4408 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4412 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4413 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4414 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4419 @kindex M k (Summary)
4420 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4421 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4422 and then select the next unread article
4423 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4427 @kindex M K (Summary)
4428 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4429 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4430 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4431 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4434 @kindex M C (Summary)
4435 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4436 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4437 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4440 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4441 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4442 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4443 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4446 @kindex M H (Summary)
4447 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4448 Catchup the current group to point
4449 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4452 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4453 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4454 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4455 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4458 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4460 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4461 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4465 @kindex M e (Summary)
4467 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4468 Mark the current article as expirable
4469 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4472 @kindex M b (Summary)
4473 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4474 Set a bookmark in the current article
4475 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4478 @kindex M B (Summary)
4479 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4480 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4481 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4484 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4485 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4486 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4487 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4490 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4491 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4492 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4493 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4496 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4497 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4498 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4499 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4500 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4503 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4504 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4505 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4506 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4507 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4508 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4509 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4510 The default is @code{t}.
4513 @node Setting Process Marks
4514 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4515 @cindex setting process marks
4522 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4523 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4524 Mark the current article with the process mark
4525 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4526 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4530 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4531 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4532 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4533 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4536 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4537 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4538 Remove the process mark from all articles
4539 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4542 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4543 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4544 Invert the list of process marked articles
4545 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4548 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4550 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4551 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4554 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4555 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4556 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4559 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4560 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4561 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4562 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4565 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4566 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4567 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4568 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4571 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4572 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4573 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4574 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4577 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4578 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4579 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4582 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4583 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4584 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4585 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4588 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4589 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4590 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4593 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4595 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4596 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4599 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4600 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4601 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4602 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4605 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4606 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4607 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4608 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4611 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4612 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4613 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4614 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4623 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4624 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4625 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4628 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4629 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4630 additional articles.
4636 @kindex / / (Summary)
4637 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4638 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4639 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4642 @kindex / a (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4644 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4645 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4649 @kindex / u (Summary)
4651 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4652 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4653 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4654 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4655 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4658 @kindex / m (Summary)
4659 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4660 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4661 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4664 @kindex / t (Summary)
4665 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4666 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4667 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4668 articles younger than that number of days.
4671 @kindex / n (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4673 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4674 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4675 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4678 @kindex / w (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4680 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4681 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4685 @kindex / v (Summary)
4686 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4687 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4688 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4692 @kindex M S (Summary)
4693 @kindex / E (Summary)
4694 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4695 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4696 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4699 @kindex / D (Summary)
4700 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4701 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4702 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4705 @kindex / * (Summary)
4706 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4707 Include all cached articles in the limit
4708 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4711 @kindex / d (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4713 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4714 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4717 @kindex / T (Summary)
4718 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4719 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4722 @kindex / c (Summary)
4723 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4724 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4725 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4728 @kindex / C (Summary)
4729 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4730 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4731 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4732 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4740 @cindex article threading
4742 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4743 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4744 hierarchical fashion.
4746 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4747 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4748 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4749 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4750 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4751 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4752 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4754 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4758 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4761 A tree-like article structure.
4764 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4767 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4768 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4769 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4770 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4771 called loose threads.
4773 @item thread gathering
4774 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4776 @item sparse threads
4777 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4778 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4784 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4785 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4789 @node Customizing Threading
4790 @subsection Customizing Threading
4791 @cindex customizing threading
4794 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4795 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4796 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4797 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4802 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4805 @cindex loose threads
4808 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4809 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4810 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4811 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4812 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4813 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4815 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4816 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4817 There are four possible values:
4821 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4822 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4823 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4824 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4825 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4830 @cindex adopting articles
4835 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4836 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4837 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4838 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4841 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4842 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4843 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4844 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4845 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4846 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4847 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4850 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4851 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4852 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4856 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4857 display them after one another.
4860 Don't gather loose threads.
4863 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4864 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4865 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4866 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4867 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4868 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4869 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4870 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4871 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4872 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4873 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4875 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4876 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4877 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4880 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4881 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4882 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4883 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4884 simplification is used.
4886 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4887 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4888 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4889 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4891 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4893 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4899 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4900 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4901 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4902 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4907 (mapconcat 'identity
4908 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4910 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4913 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4916 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4917 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4918 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4919 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4920 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4921 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4923 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4926 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4927 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4928 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4930 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4931 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4934 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4935 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4936 Remove excessive whitespace.
4939 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4942 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4943 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4944 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4945 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4946 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4947 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4948 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4949 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4951 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4952 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4953 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4954 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4955 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4956 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4957 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4958 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4959 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4963 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4964 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4965 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4966 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4968 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4969 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4970 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4973 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4977 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4978 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4984 @node Filling In Threads
4985 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4988 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4989 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4990 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4991 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
4992 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
4993 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
4994 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
4995 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
4996 old headers only works if the backend you are using carries overview
4997 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4998 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4999 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5001 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5002 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5003 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5005 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5006 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5007 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5008 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5009 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5010 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5011 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5012 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5013 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5014 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5015 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5016 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5017 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5018 @code{nil} by default.
5023 @node More Threading
5024 @subsubsection More Threading
5027 @item gnus-show-threads
5028 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5029 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5030 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5031 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5032 slower and more awkward.
5034 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5035 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5036 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5039 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5040 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5041 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5042 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5043 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5044 threads are expunged.
5046 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5047 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5048 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5051 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5052 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5053 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5054 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5055 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5058 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5059 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5060 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5066 @node Low-Level Threading
5067 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5071 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5072 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5073 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5074 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5075 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5076 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5078 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5079 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5080 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5081 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5082 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5083 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5084 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5085 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5086 meaningful. Here's one example:
5089 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5091 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5092 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5094 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5096 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5103 @node Thread Commands
5104 @subsection Thread Commands
5105 @cindex thread commands
5111 @kindex T k (Summary)
5112 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5113 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5114 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5115 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5116 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5121 @kindex T l (Summary)
5122 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5123 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5124 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5128 @kindex T i (Summary)
5129 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5130 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5131 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5134 @kindex T # (Summary)
5135 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5136 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5137 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5140 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5141 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5142 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5143 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5146 @kindex T T (Summary)
5147 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5148 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5151 @kindex T s (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5153 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5154 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5157 @kindex T h (Summary)
5158 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5159 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5162 @kindex T S (Summary)
5163 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5164 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5167 @kindex T H (Summary)
5168 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5169 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5172 @kindex T t (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5174 Re-thread the current article's thread
5175 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5176 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5179 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5181 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5182 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5186 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5187 understand the numeric prefix.
5192 @kindex T n (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5194 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5197 @kindex T p (Summary)
5198 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5199 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5202 @kindex T d (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5204 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5207 @kindex T u (Summary)
5208 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5209 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5212 @kindex T o (Summary)
5213 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5214 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5217 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5218 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5219 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5220 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5221 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5222 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5223 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5224 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5225 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5226 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5227 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5228 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5235 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5236 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5237 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5238 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5239 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5240 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5241 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5242 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5243 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5244 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5245 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5247 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5248 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5249 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5250 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5251 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5253 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5254 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5255 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5257 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5258 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5259 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5260 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5261 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5262 ascending article order.
5264 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5265 by number, you could do something like:
5268 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5269 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5270 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5271 (reverse gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5274 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5275 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5276 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5277 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5278 which the articles arrived.
5280 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5284 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5286 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5287 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5290 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5291 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5292 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5293 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5296 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5297 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5298 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5299 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5300 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5301 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5302 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5303 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5304 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5305 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5306 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5307 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5308 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5310 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5314 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5315 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5316 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5321 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5322 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5323 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5324 @cindex article pre-fetch
5327 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5328 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5329 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5330 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5331 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5333 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5334 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5336 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5337 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5338 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5339 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5340 connection is blocked.
5342 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5343 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5344 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5345 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5347 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5348 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5349 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5350 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5353 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5356 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5357 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5358 happen automatically.
5360 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5361 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5362 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5363 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5364 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5365 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5366 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5368 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5369 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5370 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5371 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5372 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5373 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5374 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5375 data structure as the only parameter.
5377 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
5378 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5381 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5382 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5383 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5384 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5387 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5390 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5391 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much. It's
5392 probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5394 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5395 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5396 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5397 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5401 Remove articles when they are read.
5404 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5407 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5409 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5410 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5411 @c from the next group.
5414 @node Article Caching
5415 @section Article Caching
5416 @cindex article caching
5419 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5420 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5421 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5422 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5423 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5425 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5427 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5428 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5429 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5430 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5431 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5432 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5433 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5434 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5436 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5437 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5438 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5439 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5440 as dormant, and don't worry.
5442 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5444 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5445 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5446 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5447 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5448 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5449 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5450 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5451 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5452 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5453 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5455 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5456 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5457 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5458 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5459 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5460 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5461 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5462 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5463 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5464 not then be downloaded by this command.
5466 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5467 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5468 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5469 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5470 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5471 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5473 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5474 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5475 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5476 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5477 variables, the group is not cached.
5479 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5480 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5481 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5482 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5483 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5484 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5485 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5486 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5487 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5491 @node Persistent Articles
5492 @section Persistent Articles
5493 @cindex persistent articles
5495 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5496 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5497 useful in my opinion.
5499 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5500 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5501 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5502 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5503 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5504 the expiry going on at the news server.
5506 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5507 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5508 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5514 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5515 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5518 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5519 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5520 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5521 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5525 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5527 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5528 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5529 interested in persistent articles:
5532 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5536 @node Article Backlog
5537 @section Article Backlog
5539 @cindex article backlog
5541 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5542 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5543 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5544 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5545 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5546 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5547 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5548 increase memory usage some.
5550 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5551 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5552 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5553 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5554 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5555 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5556 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5558 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5561 @node Saving Articles
5562 @section Saving Articles
5563 @cindex saving articles
5565 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5566 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5567 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5568 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5569 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5571 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5572 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5573 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5575 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5576 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5577 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5578 deleted before saving.
5584 @kindex O o (Summary)
5586 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5588 Save the current article using the default article saver
5589 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5592 @kindex O m (Summary)
5593 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5594 Save the current article in mail format
5595 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5598 @kindex O r (Summary)
5599 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5600 Save the current article in rmail format
5601 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5604 @kindex O f (Summary)
5605 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5606 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5607 Save the current article in plain file format
5608 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5611 @kindex O F (Summary)
5612 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5613 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5614 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5617 @kindex O b (Summary)
5618 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5619 Save the current article body in plain file format
5620 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5623 @kindex O h (Summary)
5624 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5625 Save the current article in mh folder format
5626 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5629 @kindex O v (Summary)
5630 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5631 Save the current article in a VM folder
5632 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5635 @kindex O p (Summary)
5636 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5637 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5638 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5641 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5642 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5643 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5644 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5645 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5646 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5647 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5648 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5649 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5650 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5651 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5652 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5656 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5657 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5658 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5659 functions below, or you can create your own.
5663 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5664 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5665 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5666 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5667 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5668 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5669 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5671 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5672 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5673 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5674 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5675 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5676 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5678 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5679 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5680 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5681 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5682 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5683 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5684 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5686 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5687 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5688 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5689 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5690 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5692 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5693 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5694 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5695 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5696 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5699 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5700 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5701 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5702 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5703 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5705 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5706 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5707 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5708 reader to use this setting.
5711 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5712 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5713 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5714 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5717 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5718 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5719 available functions that generate names:
5723 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5724 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5725 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5727 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5728 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5729 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5731 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5732 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5733 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5735 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5736 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5737 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5740 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5741 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp
5742 into the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would
5743 like to save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and
5744 articles related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable
5748 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5749 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5750 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5751 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5754 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5755 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5756 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5757 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5758 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5759 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5760 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5761 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5762 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5764 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5765 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5766 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5767 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5769 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5770 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5771 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file name.
5773 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5774 lots of mail groups called things like
5775 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5776 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5777 following will do just that:
5780 (defun my-save-name (group)
5781 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5782 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5784 (setq gnus-split-methods
5785 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5790 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5791 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5792 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5793 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5794 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5795 all the files in the top level directory
5796 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5797 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5798 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5799 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5801 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5802 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5803 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5804 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5805 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5808 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5812 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5813 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5816 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5817 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5818 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5819 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5822 @node Decoding Articles
5823 @section Decoding Articles
5824 @cindex decoding articles
5826 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5827 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5830 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5831 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5832 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5833 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5834 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5835 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5839 @cindex article series
5840 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5841 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5842 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5843 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5844 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5846 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5847 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5848 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5850 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5851 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5852 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5854 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5855 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5856 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5859 @node Uuencoded Articles
5860 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5862 @cindex uuencoded articles
5867 @kindex X u (Summary)
5868 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5869 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5870 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5873 @kindex X U (Summary)
5874 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5875 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5876 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5879 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5881 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5884 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5886 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5887 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5891 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5892 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5893 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5894 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5895 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5897 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5898 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5899 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5900 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5903 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5904 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5905 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5906 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5907 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5908 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5912 @node Shell Archives
5913 @subsection Shell Archives
5915 @cindex shell archives
5916 @cindex shared articles
5918 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5919 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5920 some commands to deal with these:
5925 @kindex X s (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5927 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5930 @kindex X S (Summary)
5931 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5932 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5935 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5937 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5940 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5942 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5943 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5947 @node PostScript Files
5948 @subsection PostScript Files
5954 @kindex X p (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5956 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5959 @kindex X P (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5961 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5962 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5965 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5967 View the current PostScript series
5968 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5971 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5973 View and save the current PostScript series
5974 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5979 @subsection Other Files
5983 @kindex X o (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5985 Save the current series
5986 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5989 @kindex X b (Summary)
5990 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5991 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5992 doesn't really work yet.
5996 @node Decoding Variables
5997 @subsection Decoding Variables
5999 Adjective, not verb.
6002 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6003 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6004 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6008 @node Rule Variables
6009 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6010 @cindex rule variables
6012 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6013 variables are of the form
6016 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6023 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6024 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6026 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6027 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6030 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6031 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
6034 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6035 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6036 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6037 user and default view rules.
6039 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6040 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6041 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6046 @node Other Decode Variables
6047 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6050 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6052 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6053 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6054 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6055 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6056 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6060 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6061 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6064 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6065 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6066 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6069 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6070 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6071 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6072 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6073 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6076 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6077 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6078 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6080 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6081 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6082 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6083 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6084 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6087 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6088 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6089 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6091 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6092 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6093 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6094 looking for files to display.
6096 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6097 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6098 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6101 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6102 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6103 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6106 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6107 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6108 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6111 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6112 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6113 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6116 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6117 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6118 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6119 decoded articles as unread.
6121 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6122 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6123 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6124 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6126 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6127 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6128 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6130 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6131 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6133 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6134 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6135 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6136 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6138 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6139 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6140 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6141 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6142 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6143 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6144 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6145 simply dropped them.
6150 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6151 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6155 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6156 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6157 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6158 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6159 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6160 for you when you post the article.
6162 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6163 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6164 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6165 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6167 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6168 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6169 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6170 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6171 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6172 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6173 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6175 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6176 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6177 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6178 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6179 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6180 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6181 Default is @code{t}.
6187 @subsection Viewing Files
6188 @cindex viewing files
6189 @cindex pseudo-articles
6191 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6192 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6193 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6194 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6195 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6196 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6197 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6199 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6200 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6201 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6202 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6204 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6205 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6206 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6208 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6209 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6210 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6211 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6212 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6214 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6215 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6216 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6217 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6218 a list of parameters to that command.
6220 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6221 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6222 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6224 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6225 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6226 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6229 @node Article Treatment
6230 @section Article Treatment
6232 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6233 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6234 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6235 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6236 these articles easier.
6239 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6240 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6241 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6242 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6243 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6244 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6245 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6249 @node Article Highlighting
6250 @subsection Article Highlighting
6251 @cindex highlighting
6253 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6254 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6259 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6260 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6261 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6262 Do much highlighting of the current article
6263 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6264 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6266 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6267 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6268 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6269 signature and adds buttons.
6272 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6273 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6274 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6275 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6276 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6277 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6278 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6279 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6280 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6281 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6282 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6285 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6287 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6289 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6292 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6294 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6295 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6296 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6298 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6299 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6300 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6302 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6303 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6304 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6306 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6307 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6308 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6309 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6310 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6311 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6313 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6314 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6315 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6317 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6318 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6319 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6321 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6322 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6323 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6324 that it's a citation.
6326 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6327 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6328 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6330 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6331 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6332 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6334 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6335 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6336 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6337 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6343 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6344 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6345 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6346 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6347 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6348 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6349 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6350 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6355 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6358 @node Article Fontisizing
6359 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6361 @cindex article emphasis
6363 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6364 @kindex W e (Summary)
6365 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6366 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6367 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6368 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6370 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6371 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6372 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6373 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6374 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6375 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6376 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6377 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6381 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6382 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6383 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6386 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6387 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6388 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6389 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6390 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6391 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6392 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6393 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6394 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6395 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6396 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6397 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6398 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6400 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6401 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6402 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6406 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6409 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6412 @node Article Hiding
6413 @subsection Article Hiding
6414 @cindex article hiding
6416 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6417 too much cruft in most articles.
6422 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6423 @findex gnus-article-hide
6424 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6425 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6426 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6429 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6430 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6431 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6435 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6436 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6437 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6438 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6441 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6442 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6443 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6447 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6448 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6449 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6450 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6451 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6452 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6453 articles that have signatures in them do:
6455 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6457 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6459 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6460 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6462 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6465 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6470 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6471 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6472 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6473 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6476 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6477 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6478 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6479 customizing the hiding:
6483 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6484 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6485 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6486 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6487 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6488 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6489 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6494 Starting point of the hidden text.
6496 Ending point of the hidden text.
6498 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6500 Number of lines of hidden text.
6503 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6504 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6505 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6510 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6511 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6513 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6514 following two variables:
6517 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6518 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6519 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6520 50), hide the cited text.
6522 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6523 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6524 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6529 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6530 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6531 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6532 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6533 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6534 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6538 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6539 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6540 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6542 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6543 citation customization.
6545 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6549 @node Article Washing
6550 @subsection Article Washing
6552 @cindex article washing
6554 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6555 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6557 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6558 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6564 @kindex W l (Summary)
6565 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6566 Remove page breaks from the current article
6567 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6571 @kindex W r (Summary)
6572 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6573 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6574 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6575 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6576 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6577 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6579 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6580 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6581 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6582 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6585 @kindex W t (Summary)
6586 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6587 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6588 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6591 @kindex W v (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6593 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6594 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6597 @kindex W m (Summary)
6598 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6599 Toggle whether to display the article as @sc{mime} message
6600 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6603 @kindex W o (Summary)
6604 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6605 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6608 @kindex W d (Summary)
6609 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6610 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6612 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6614 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6615 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6616 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6617 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6621 @kindex W w (Summary)
6622 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6623 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6624 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6625 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6627 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6631 @kindex W c (Summary)
6632 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6633 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6634 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6635 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6636 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6639 @kindex W f (Summary)
6641 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6642 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6643 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6644 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6650 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6651 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6652 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6653 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6654 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6655 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6656 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6657 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6658 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6659 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6660 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6661 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6662 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6663 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6667 @kindex W b (Summary)
6668 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6669 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6670 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6673 @kindex W B (Summary)
6674 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6675 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6676 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6679 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6680 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6681 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6682 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6685 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6686 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6687 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6688 lines with a single empty line.
6689 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6692 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6693 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6694 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6695 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6698 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6700 Do all the three commands above
6701 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6704 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6705 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6706 Remove all blank lines
6707 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6710 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6711 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6712 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6713 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6716 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6717 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6718 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6719 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6723 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6726 @node Article Buttons
6727 @subsection Article Buttons
6730 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6731 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6732 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6733 button on these references.
6735 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6736 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6737 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6742 @item gnus-button-alist
6743 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6744 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6747 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6753 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6754 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6755 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6758 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6759 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6760 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6763 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6764 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6765 avoid false matches.
6768 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6771 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6772 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6776 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6779 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6782 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6783 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6784 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6785 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6786 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6789 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6792 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6794 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6795 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6796 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6797 default values of the variables above.
6799 @item gnus-article-button-face
6800 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6801 Face used on buttons.
6803 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6804 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6805 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6809 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6813 @subsection Article Date
6815 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6816 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6817 when the article was sent.
6822 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6824 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6825 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6828 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6829 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6831 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6832 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6835 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6836 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6837 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6840 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6841 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6842 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6843 @findex format-time-string
6844 Display the date using a user-defined format
6845 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6846 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6847 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6848 for a list of possible format specs.
6851 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6852 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6853 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6854 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6855 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6856 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6857 updated continually, you can put
6860 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6863 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6864 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6868 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6869 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6870 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6871 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6872 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6873 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6874 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6878 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6879 preferred format automatically.
6882 @node Article Signature
6883 @subsection Article Signature
6885 @cindex article signature
6887 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6888 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6889 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6890 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6891 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6892 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6893 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6894 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6895 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6898 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6899 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6900 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6901 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6902 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6903 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6904 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6905 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6908 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6911 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6912 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6917 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6920 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6923 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6924 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6926 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6927 in question is not a signature.
6930 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6931 listed above. Here's an example:
6934 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6935 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6938 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6939 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6940 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6941 signature after all.
6945 @section MIME Commands
6946 @cindex MIME decoding
6950 @kindex M-t (Summary)
6951 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
6952 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
6953 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
6956 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6957 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6958 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6961 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6962 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6963 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6965 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6966 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6967 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6968 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6969 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6970 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6973 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6974 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6975 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6982 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6983 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
6984 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6985 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
6988 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
6991 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
6995 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6996 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6997 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6998 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
6999 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7001 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7002 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7003 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7004 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7005 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7006 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7007 save all jpegs into some directory).
7009 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7012 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7013 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7015 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7016 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7017 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7018 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7019 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7025 @node Article Commands
7026 @section Article Commands
7033 @kindex A P (Summary)
7034 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7035 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7036 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7037 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7038 run just before printing the buffer.
7043 @node Summary Sorting
7044 @section Summary Sorting
7045 @cindex summary sorting
7047 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7048 can't really see why you'd want that.
7053 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7054 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7055 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7058 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7059 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7060 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7063 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7064 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7065 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7068 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7069 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7070 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7073 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7074 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7075 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7078 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7079 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7080 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7083 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7084 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7085 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7086 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7087 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7091 @node Finding the Parent
7092 @section Finding the Parent
7093 @cindex parent articles
7094 @cindex referring articles
7099 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7100 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7101 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7102 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7103 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7104 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7105 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7106 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7107 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7109 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7110 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7111 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7112 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7113 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7117 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7118 @kindex A R (Summary)
7119 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7120 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7123 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7124 @kindex A T (Summary)
7125 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7126 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7127 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7128 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7129 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7130 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7131 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7133 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7134 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7135 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7136 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7137 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7138 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7141 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7142 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7144 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7145 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7146 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7147 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7148 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7149 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7150 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7153 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7154 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7155 by giving this command a prefix.
7157 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7158 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7159 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7160 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7161 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7162 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7165 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7166 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7167 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7168 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7169 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7170 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7173 @node Alternative Approaches
7174 @section Alternative Approaches
7176 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7177 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7180 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7181 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7186 @subsection Pick and Read
7187 @cindex pick and read
7189 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7190 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7191 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7192 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7194 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7195 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7196 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7197 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7198 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7199 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7201 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7206 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7207 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7208 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7209 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7210 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7211 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7212 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7213 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7216 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7217 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7218 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7219 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7223 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7224 Unpick the thread or article
7225 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7226 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7227 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7228 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7229 the thread or article at that line.
7233 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7234 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7235 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7236 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7237 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7238 will still be visible when you are reading.
7242 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7243 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7244 which is mapped to the same function
7245 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7247 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7250 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7253 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7254 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7256 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7257 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7258 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7260 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7261 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7262 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7263 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7264 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7265 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7266 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7270 @subsection Binary Groups
7271 @cindex binary groups
7273 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7274 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7275 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7276 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7277 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7278 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7279 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7282 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7283 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7284 command, when you have turned on this mode
7285 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7287 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7288 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7292 @section Tree Display
7295 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7296 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7297 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7298 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7301 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7304 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7305 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7306 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7308 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7309 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7310 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7311 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7312 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7314 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7315 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7316 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7317 default is @code{modeline}.
7319 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7320 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7321 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7322 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7323 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7324 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7325 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7331 The name of the poster.
7333 The @code{From} header.
7335 The number of the article.
7337 The opening bracket.
7339 The closing bracket.
7344 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7346 Variables related to the display are:
7349 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7350 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7351 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7352 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7353 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7354 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7356 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7357 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7358 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7359 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7363 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7364 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7365 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7366 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7367 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7368 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7369 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7370 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7371 other windows displayed next to it.
7373 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7374 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7375 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7376 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7377 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7378 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7379 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7383 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7386 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7396 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7400 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7401 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7403 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7405 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7410 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7411 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7412 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7415 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7416 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7417 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7418 (gnus-add-configuration
7422 (summary 0.75 point)
7427 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7430 @node Mail Group Commands
7431 @section Mail Group Commands
7432 @cindex mail group commands
7434 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7435 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7437 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7438 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7443 @kindex B e (Summary)
7444 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7445 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7446 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7449 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7450 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7451 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7452 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7453 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7454 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7457 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7458 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7459 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7460 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7461 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7462 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7465 @kindex B m (Summary)
7467 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7468 Move the article from one mail group to another
7469 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7472 @kindex B c (Summary)
7474 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7475 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7476 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7477 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7480 @kindex B B (Summary)
7481 @cindex crosspost mail
7482 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7483 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7484 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7485 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7486 be properly updated.
7489 @kindex B i (Summary)
7490 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7491 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7492 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7493 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7496 @kindex B r (Summary)
7497 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7498 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7499 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7500 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7501 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7505 @kindex B w (Summary)
7507 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7508 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7509 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7510 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7511 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7512 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7515 @kindex B q (Summary)
7516 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7517 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7518 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7519 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7522 @kindex B t (Summary)
7523 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7524 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7525 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7528 @kindex B p (Summary)
7529 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7530 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7531 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7532 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7533 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7534 article from your news server (or rather, from
7535 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7536 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7537 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7538 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7539 just not have arrived yet.
7543 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7544 @cindex moving articles
7545 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7546 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7547 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7548 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7549 suggestions you find reasonable.
7552 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7553 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7554 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7555 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7559 @node Various Summary Stuff
7560 @section Various Summary Stuff
7563 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7564 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7565 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7566 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7570 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7571 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7572 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7574 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7575 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7576 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7577 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7578 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7579 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7582 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7583 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7584 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7585 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7586 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7588 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7589 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7590 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7593 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7594 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7595 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7596 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7597 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7598 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7599 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7600 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7601 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7602 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7607 @node Summary Group Information
7608 @subsection Summary Group Information
7613 @kindex H f (Summary)
7614 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7615 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7616 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7617 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7618 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7619 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7620 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7621 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7622 be used for fetching the file.
7625 @kindex H d (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7627 Give a brief description of the current group
7628 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7629 rereading the description from the server.
7632 @kindex H h (Summary)
7633 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7634 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7635 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7638 @kindex H i (Summary)
7639 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7640 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7644 @node Searching for Articles
7645 @subsection Searching for Articles
7650 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7651 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7652 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7653 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7656 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7657 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7658 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7659 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7663 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7664 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7665 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7666 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7670 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7672 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7673 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7676 @node Summary Generation Commands
7677 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7682 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7683 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7684 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7687 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7688 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7689 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7690 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7695 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7696 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7701 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7702 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7703 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7704 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7705 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7706 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7707 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7708 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7709 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7713 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7714 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7715 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7716 several documents into one biiig group
7717 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7718 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7719 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7720 command understands the process/prefix convention
7721 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7724 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7725 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7726 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7727 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7728 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7729 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7733 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7734 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7735 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7738 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7739 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7740 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7741 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7744 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7745 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7746 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7747 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7752 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7753 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7754 @cindex summary exit
7755 @cindex exiting groups
7757 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7758 group and return you to the group buffer.
7764 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7766 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7767 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7768 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7770 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7771 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7772 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7773 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7774 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7775 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7776 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7780 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7782 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7783 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7784 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7788 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7791 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7792 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7793 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7796 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7797 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7798 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7799 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7802 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7803 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7804 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7805 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7808 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7809 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7810 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7811 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7812 all articles, both read and unread.
7816 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7817 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7818 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7819 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7820 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7821 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7822 articles, both read and unread.
7825 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7826 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7827 Exit the group and go to the next group
7828 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7831 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7832 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7833 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7834 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7837 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7838 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7839 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7840 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7841 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7842 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7845 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7846 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7849 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7850 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7851 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7852 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7853 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7854 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7855 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7856 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7857 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7858 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7859 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7860 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7862 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7864 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7865 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7866 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7867 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7868 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7869 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7870 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7871 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7872 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7875 @node Crosspost Handling
7876 @section Crosspost Handling
7880 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7881 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7882 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7883 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7884 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7885 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7888 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7889 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7890 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7891 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7892 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7894 @cindex cross-posting
7897 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7898 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7899 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7900 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7901 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7902 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7903 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7904 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7905 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7906 the cross reference mechanism.
7908 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7909 @cindex overview.fmt
7910 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7911 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7912 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7913 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7914 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7915 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7918 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7919 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7920 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7925 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7928 @node Duplicate Suppression
7929 @section Duplicate Suppression
7931 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7932 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7933 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7934 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various reasons.
7938 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7939 is evil and not very common.
7942 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7943 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7946 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7947 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7950 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7953 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7954 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7956 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7957 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7958 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7959 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7960 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7961 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7962 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7965 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7966 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7967 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7968 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7969 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7973 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7974 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7975 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7977 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7978 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7979 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7980 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7981 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
7982 session are suppressed.
7984 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7985 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7986 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7987 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7989 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7990 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7991 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7992 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7995 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
7996 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7997 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7998 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7999 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
8000 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8001 to you to figure out, I think.
8004 @node The Article Buffer
8005 @chapter The Article Buffer
8006 @cindex article buffer
8008 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8009 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8010 tell gnus otherwise.
8013 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8014 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
8015 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8016 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8017 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8021 @node Hiding Headers
8022 @section Hiding Headers
8023 @cindex hiding headers
8024 @cindex deleting headers
8026 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8027 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8029 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8030 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8031 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8032 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8033 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8034 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8035 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8036 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8037 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8039 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8043 @item gnus-visible-headers
8044 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8045 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8046 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8047 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8049 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8050 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8053 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8056 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8059 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8060 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8061 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8062 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8063 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8064 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8066 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
8067 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
8070 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8073 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8076 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8077 variable will have no effect.
8081 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8082 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8083 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8084 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8085 the headers are to be displayed.
8087 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8088 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8091 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8094 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8095 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed
8098 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8099 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8100 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8101 You can hide further boring headers by entering
8102 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
8103 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
8104 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
8105 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
8106 @dfn{boring conditions} that gnus can check and remove from sight.
8108 These conditions are:
8111 Remove all empty headers.
8113 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8114 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8116 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8119 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8122 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8125 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8127 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8130 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8133 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8134 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8137 This is also the default value for this variable.
8141 @section Using @sc{mime}
8144 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8145 while people stand around yawning.
8147 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8148 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8150 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8151 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8152 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8154 @vindex gnus-show-mime
8155 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
8156 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
8157 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
8158 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
8159 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
8160 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
8161 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
8162 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
8163 existed yet, sorry).
8165 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
8166 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
8167 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
8168 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
8169 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
8170 buffer. These can't be avoided.
8172 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
8173 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
8174 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
8175 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
8176 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
8177 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
8178 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
8179 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
8180 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
8183 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8185 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
8186 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
8187 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
8188 buffer when there are nobody else.
8191 @node Customizing Articles
8192 @section Customizing Articles
8193 @cindex article customization
8195 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8196 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
8197 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
8198 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
8200 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8201 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
8202 By default this hook just contains
8203 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
8204 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
8205 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
8206 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
8207 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
8208 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
8209 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
8210 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
8211 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
8213 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
8214 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
8215 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
8216 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8217 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8220 @node Article Keymap
8221 @section Article Keymap
8223 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8224 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8225 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8226 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8229 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8234 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8235 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8236 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8239 @kindex DEL (Article)
8240 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8241 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8244 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8245 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8246 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8247 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8248 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8251 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8252 @findex gnus-article-mail
8253 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8254 given a prefix, include the mail.
8258 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8259 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8260 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8264 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8265 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8266 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8269 @kindex TAB (Article)
8270 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8271 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8272 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8275 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8276 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8277 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8283 @section Misc Article
8287 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8288 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8289 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8290 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8293 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8294 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8296 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8297 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8299 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8300 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8301 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8302 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8303 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8304 the contents of the article buffer.
8306 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8307 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8308 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8309 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8310 hiding headers, and the like.
8312 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8313 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8314 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8316 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8317 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8318 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8319 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8321 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8322 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8323 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8324 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8325 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8330 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8331 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8334 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8337 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8339 @item gnus-break-pages
8340 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8341 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8342 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8343 paging will not be done.
8345 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8346 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8347 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8352 @node Composing Messages
8353 @chapter Composing Messages
8354 @cindex composing messages
8357 @cindex sending mail
8362 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8363 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8364 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8365 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8366 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8367 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8368 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8371 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8372 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8373 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8374 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8375 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8376 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8377 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8378 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8381 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8382 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8388 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8391 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8392 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8393 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8394 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8396 @item gnus-add-to-list
8397 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8398 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8399 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8407 Variables for composing news articles:
8410 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8411 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8412 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8413 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8414 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8415 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8416 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8417 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8418 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8421 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8422 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8423 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8424 file. It is 1000 by default.
8429 @node Posting Server
8430 @section Posting Server
8432 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8433 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8435 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8437 @vindex gnus-post-method
8439 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8440 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8441 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8442 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8443 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8446 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8449 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8450 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8451 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8452 the ``current'' server for posting.
8454 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8455 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8457 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8458 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8461 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8462 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8463 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8468 @section Mail and Post
8470 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8474 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8475 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8476 @cindex mailing lists
8478 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8479 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8480 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8481 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8482 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8483 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8484 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8485 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8486 still a pain, though.
8490 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8491 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8492 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8495 @findex ispell-message
8497 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8501 @node Archived Messages
8502 @section Archived Messages
8503 @cindex archived messages
8504 @cindex sent messages
8506 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8507 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8508 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8509 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8512 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8513 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8514 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8518 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8519 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8520 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8521 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8524 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8525 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8526 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8527 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8530 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8531 '(nnfolder "archive"
8532 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8533 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8534 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8537 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8539 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8540 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8541 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8543 This variable can be used to do the following:
8547 Messages will be saved in that group.
8548 @item a list of strings
8549 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8550 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8551 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8553 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8558 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8560 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8563 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8565 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8568 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8570 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8571 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8572 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8573 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8578 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8579 '((if (message-news-p)
8584 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8585 messages in one file per month:
8588 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8589 '((if (message-news-p)
8591 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8592 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8595 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8596 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8598 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8599 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8600 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8601 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8602 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8603 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8604 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8605 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8606 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8607 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8609 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8610 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8611 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8612 this will disable archiving.
8615 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8616 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8617 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8618 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8619 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8622 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8623 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8624 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8627 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8628 but the latter is the preferred method.
8632 @node Posting Styles
8633 @section Posting Styles
8634 @cindex posting styles
8637 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8639 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8640 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8641 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8644 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8645 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8646 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8647 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8648 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8653 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8654 (organization "What me?"))
8656 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8657 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8658 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8661 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8662 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8663 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8664 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8665 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8666 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8667 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8668 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8670 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8671 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8672 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8673 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8674 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8675 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8678 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8679 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8680 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8681 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8682 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8683 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8686 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8687 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8688 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8690 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8691 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8692 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8693 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8695 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8696 @vindex message-this-is-news
8698 So here's a new example:
8701 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8703 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8705 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8706 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8708 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8709 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8710 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8711 (message-this-is-news
8712 (signature my-news-signature))
8713 (posting-from-work-p
8714 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8715 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8716 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8717 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8719 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8727 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8728 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8729 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8730 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8731 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8733 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8734 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8735 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8736 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8737 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8741 @vindex nndraft-directory
8742 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8743 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8744 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8745 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8746 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8747 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8749 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8750 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8753 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8754 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8755 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8756 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8757 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8758 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8759 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8760 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8761 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8762 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8763 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8764 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8765 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8766 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8768 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8769 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8770 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8772 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8774 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8775 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8776 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8778 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8781 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8782 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8783 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8784 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8785 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8786 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8787 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8790 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8791 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8792 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8795 @node Rejected Articles
8796 @section Rejected Articles
8797 @cindex rejected articles
8799 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8800 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8801 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8802 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8804 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
8805 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8806 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8807 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
8808 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8810 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8811 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8812 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8815 @node Select Methods
8816 @chapter Select Methods
8817 @cindex foreign groups
8818 @cindex select methods
8820 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8821 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8822 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8823 personal mail group.
8825 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8826 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8827 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8828 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8829 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8830 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8832 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8833 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8835 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8838 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8839 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8840 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8841 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8842 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8844 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8847 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8848 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8849 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8850 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8851 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8852 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8856 @node The Server Buffer
8857 @section The Server Buffer
8859 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8860 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8861 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8862 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8863 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8864 backend represents a virtual server.
8866 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8867 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8868 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8869 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8871 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8872 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8873 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8874 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8875 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8876 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8877 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8879 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8880 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8883 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8884 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8885 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8886 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8887 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8888 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8889 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8892 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8893 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8896 @node Server Buffer Format
8897 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8898 @cindex server buffer format
8900 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8901 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8902 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8903 variable, with some simple extensions:
8908 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8911 The name of this server.
8914 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8917 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8920 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8921 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8922 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8923 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8933 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8936 @node Server Commands
8937 @subsection Server Commands
8938 @cindex server commands
8944 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8945 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8949 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8950 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8953 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8954 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8955 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8959 @findex gnus-server-exit
8960 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8964 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8965 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8969 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8970 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8974 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8975 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8979 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8980 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8984 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8985 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8986 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8991 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8992 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8993 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8994 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8999 @node Example Methods
9000 @subsection Example Methods
9002 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9005 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9008 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9014 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9015 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9018 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9019 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9021 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9022 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9026 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9029 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9030 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9032 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9033 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9034 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9038 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9041 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9044 Here's the method for a public spool:
9048 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9049 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9052 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9053 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9054 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9055 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9056 should probably look something like this:
9060 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9061 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9062 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9063 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9064 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9067 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9068 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9069 server that would look something like this:
9073 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9074 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9075 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9076 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9077 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9078 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9081 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9082 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9083 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9084 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9087 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9088 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9090 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9091 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9093 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9094 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9095 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9097 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9099 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9100 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9101 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9102 will contain the following:
9112 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9113 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9114 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9117 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9118 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9119 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9122 @node Server Variables
9123 @subsection Server Variables
9125 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9126 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9127 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9128 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9129 won't change the "derived" variables.
9131 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9132 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9133 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9134 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9135 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9136 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9137 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9138 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9139 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9143 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9144 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9145 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9149 @node Servers and Methods
9150 @subsection Servers and Methods
9152 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9153 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9154 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9155 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9159 @node Unavailable Servers
9160 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9162 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9163 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9164 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9165 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9166 actually the case or not.
9168 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9169 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9170 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9171 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9172 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9173 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9174 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9175 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9177 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9178 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9180 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9181 with the following commands:
9187 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9188 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9189 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9193 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9194 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9195 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9199 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9200 Mark the current server as unreachable
9201 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9204 @kindex M-o (Server)
9205 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9206 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9207 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9210 @kindex M-c (Server)
9211 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9212 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9213 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9217 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9218 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9219 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9225 @section Getting News
9226 @cindex reading news
9227 @cindex news backends
9229 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9230 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9231 or it can read from a local spool.
9234 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9235 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9240 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9243 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9244 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9245 server as the, uhm, address.
9247 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9248 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9249 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9250 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9252 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9253 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9254 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9256 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9261 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9262 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9263 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9265 @cindex authentification
9266 @cindex nntp authentification
9267 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9268 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9269 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9270 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9271 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9272 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9273 present in this hook.
9275 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9276 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9277 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9278 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9279 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9280 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9281 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9282 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9283 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9284 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9285 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9286 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9290 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9293 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9294 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9295 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9296 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9297 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9302 Here's an example file:
9305 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9306 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9309 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9310 have to be first, for instance.
9312 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9313 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9314 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9315 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9316 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9317 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9318 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9320 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9321 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9327 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9328 previously mentioned.
9330 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9332 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9333 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9334 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9335 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9336 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9339 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9343 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9345 The default value is
9348 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9349 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9352 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9353 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9355 @item nntp-maximum-request
9356 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9357 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9358 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9359 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9360 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9361 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9362 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9364 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9365 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9366 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9367 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9368 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9369 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9370 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9371 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9372 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9373 no timeouts are done.
9375 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9376 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9377 @c @cindex PPP connections
9378 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9379 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9380 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9381 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9382 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9383 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9384 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9385 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9386 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9387 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9389 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9390 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9391 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9392 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9395 @item nntp-server-hook
9396 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9397 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9400 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9401 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9402 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9403 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9404 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9405 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9406 functions are supplied:
9409 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9410 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9413 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9414 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9415 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9418 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9422 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9423 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9424 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9425 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9427 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9428 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9429 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9431 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9432 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9433 User name on the remote system.
9437 @item nntp-open-telnet
9438 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9439 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9441 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9444 @item nntp-telnet-command
9445 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9446 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9448 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9449 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9450 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9452 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9453 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9454 User name for log in on the remote system.
9456 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9457 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9458 Password to use when logging in.
9460 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9461 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9462 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9465 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9466 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9467 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9468 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9470 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9471 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9472 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9473 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9474 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9478 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9479 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9480 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9481 you must have SSLay installed
9482 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9483 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9484 define a server as follows:
9487 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9489 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9491 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9492 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9493 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9494 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9499 @item nntp-end-of-line
9500 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9501 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9502 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9503 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9505 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9506 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9507 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9511 @vindex nntp-address
9512 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9514 @item nntp-port-number
9515 @vindex nntp-port-number
9516 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9519 @item nntp-buggy-select
9520 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9521 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9523 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9524 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9525 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9526 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9529 @item nntp-xover-commands
9530 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9533 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9534 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9538 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9539 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9540 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9541 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9542 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9543 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9544 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9545 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9546 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9547 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9548 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9550 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9551 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9552 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9554 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9555 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9556 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9557 server closes connection.
9559 @item nntp-record-commands
9560 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9561 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9562 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9563 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9564 that doesn't seem to work.
9570 @subsection News Spool
9574 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9575 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9576 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9579 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9580 anything else) as the address.
9582 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9583 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9584 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9585 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9589 @item nnspool-inews-program
9590 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9591 Program used to post an article.
9593 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9594 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9595 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9597 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9598 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9599 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9600 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9602 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9603 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9604 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9605 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9607 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9608 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9609 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9611 @item nnspool-active-file
9612 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9613 The path to the active file.
9615 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9616 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9617 The path to the group descriptions file.
9619 @item nnspool-history-file
9620 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9621 The path to the news history file.
9623 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9624 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9625 The path to the active date file.
9627 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9628 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9629 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9632 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9633 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9635 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9636 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9637 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9643 @section Getting Mail
9644 @cindex reading mail
9647 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9651 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9652 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9653 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9654 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9655 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9656 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9657 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9658 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9659 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9660 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9661 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9665 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9666 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9668 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9669 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9670 and things will happen automatically.
9672 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9673 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9676 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9677 '((nnml "private")))
9680 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9681 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9682 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9683 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9684 like any other group.
9686 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9689 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9690 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9691 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9695 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9696 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9697 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9700 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9701 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9702 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9705 @node Splitting Mail
9706 @subsection Splitting Mail
9707 @cindex splitting mail
9708 @cindex mail splitting
9710 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9711 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9712 to be split into groups.
9715 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9716 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9717 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9721 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9722 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9723 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9724 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9725 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9726 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9727 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9730 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9733 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9734 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9735 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9736 mail belongs in that group.
9738 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9739 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9740 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9741 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9742 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9743 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9745 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9746 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9747 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9748 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9749 thinks should carry this mail message.
9751 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9752 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9753 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9754 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9756 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9757 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9758 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9759 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9760 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9762 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9765 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9766 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9767 links. If that's the case for you, set
9768 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9769 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9771 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9772 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9773 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9774 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9776 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9777 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9778 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9779 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9780 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9781 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9782 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9783 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9787 @node Mail Backend Variables
9788 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9790 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9794 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9795 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9796 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9797 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9799 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9800 @item nnmail-spool-file
9804 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9805 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9806 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9807 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9808 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9809 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9810 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9811 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9812 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9813 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9814 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9815 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9816 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9817 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9818 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9820 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9822 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9823 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9826 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9827 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9828 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9829 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9830 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9831 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9833 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9834 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9835 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9836 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9837 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9838 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9839 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9842 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9843 @item nnmail-crash-box
9844 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9845 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9846 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9849 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9850 @item nnmail-split-hook
9851 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
9852 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9853 @findex RFC2047 decoding
9854 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9855 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9856 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9857 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9858 in the buffer will show up in any files.
9859 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
9862 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9863 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9864 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9865 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9866 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9867 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9868 starting to handle the new mail) and
9869 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9870 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9871 default file modes the new mail files get:
9874 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9875 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9877 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9878 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9881 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9882 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9883 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9884 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9885 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9886 it will be used instead.
9888 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9889 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9890 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9891 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9893 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9894 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9897 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9898 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9899 @cindex incoming mail files
9900 @cindex deleting incoming files
9901 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9902 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9905 @c This is @code{nil} by
9906 @c default for reasons of security.
9908 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9909 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9910 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9911 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9912 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9915 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9917 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9918 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9919 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9920 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9921 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9922 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9923 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9925 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9926 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9928 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9930 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9931 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9932 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9933 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9934 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9939 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9940 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9941 @cindex mail splitting
9942 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9944 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9945 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9946 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9947 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9948 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9949 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9951 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9954 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9955 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9956 ;; from real errors.
9957 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9959 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9960 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9961 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9962 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9963 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9964 ;; Other mailing lists...
9965 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9966 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9968 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9969 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9973 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9974 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9975 the five possible split syntaxes:
9980 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9981 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9985 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9986 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9987 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9990 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9991 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9992 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9993 be stored in one or more groups.
9996 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9997 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10000 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10001 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10004 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10005 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10006 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10010 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10014 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10015 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10016 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10017 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10018 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10020 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10021 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10022 are expanded as specified by the variable
10023 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10024 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10027 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10028 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10029 when all this splitting is performed.
10031 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10032 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10033 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10036 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10039 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10040 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10041 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10042 groupings 1 through 9.
10045 @node Mail and Procmail
10046 @subsection Mail and Procmail
10051 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
10052 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
10053 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
10054 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
10055 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
10057 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
10058 something like the following:
10060 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
10062 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
10063 (setq nnmail-spool-file
10064 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
10067 This also means that you probably don't want to set
10068 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
10071 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
10072 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
10073 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
10074 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
10075 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
10076 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
10078 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
10081 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
10083 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
10084 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
10086 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
10087 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
10088 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
10089 to include all your mail groups.
10091 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
10092 method will be created automatically.
10094 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
10095 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
10096 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
10097 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
10098 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
10099 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
10100 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
10101 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
10103 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
10104 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
10105 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
10106 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
10107 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
10109 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10110 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
10111 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
10112 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
10113 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
10114 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
10116 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
10117 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
10118 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
10119 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
10120 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
10123 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
10124 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
10125 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
10126 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
10127 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
10131 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10132 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10134 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10135 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10136 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10139 Doing so can be quite easy.
10141 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10142 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10143 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10144 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10145 your @code{nnml} groups.
10151 Go to the group buffer.
10154 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10155 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10158 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10161 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10162 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10165 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10166 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10169 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10170 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10171 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10172 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10173 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10175 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10176 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10177 using the new mail backend.
10180 @node Expiring Mail
10181 @subsection Expiring Mail
10182 @cindex article expiry
10184 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10185 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10186 different approach to mail reading.
10188 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10189 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10190 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10191 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10192 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10193 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10196 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10197 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10198 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10199 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10200 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10201 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10202 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10203 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10205 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10206 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10207 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10208 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10209 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10210 column in the summary buffer.
10212 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10213 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10214 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10215 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10218 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10220 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10221 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10222 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10225 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10226 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10227 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10228 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10229 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10231 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10232 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10235 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10236 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10239 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10240 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10242 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10243 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10244 don't really mix very well.
10246 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10247 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10248 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10249 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10252 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10253 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10254 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10255 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10258 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10260 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10262 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10264 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10266 ((string= group "important")
10272 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10273 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10275 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10276 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10277 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10280 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10281 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10283 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10284 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10285 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10286 easier for procmail users.
10288 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10289 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10290 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10291 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10292 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10293 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10294 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10295 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10296 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10297 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10298 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10299 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10300 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10303 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10305 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10306 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10307 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10308 auto-expire turned on.
10312 @subsection Washing Mail
10313 @cindex mail washing
10314 @cindex list server brain damage
10315 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10317 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10318 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10319 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10320 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10321 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10322 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10324 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10325 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10326 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10329 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10330 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10331 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10332 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10335 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10336 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10337 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10338 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10339 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10342 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10343 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10344 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10345 Emacs running on MS machines.
10349 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10350 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10351 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10352 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10355 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10356 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10357 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10358 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10360 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10361 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10362 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10363 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10364 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10365 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10366 also be a list of regexp.
10368 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10369 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10372 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10373 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10376 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10377 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10378 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10382 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10383 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10384 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10388 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10389 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10390 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10397 @subsection Duplicates
10399 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10400 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10401 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10402 @cindex duplicate mails
10403 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10404 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10405 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10406 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10407 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10408 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10409 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10410 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10411 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10412 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10413 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10414 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10415 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10417 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10418 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10419 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10420 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10422 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10425 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10426 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10430 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10431 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10432 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10433 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10434 (any mail "mail.misc")
10441 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10442 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10447 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10448 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10449 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10450 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10451 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10454 @node Not Reading Mail
10455 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10457 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10458 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10459 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10461 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10462 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10464 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10465 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10466 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10467 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10468 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10469 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10470 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10471 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10472 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10473 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10474 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10476 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10477 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10481 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10482 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10484 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10485 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10486 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10489 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10490 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10491 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10492 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10493 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10497 @node Unix Mail Box
10498 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10500 @cindex unix mail box
10502 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10503 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10504 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10505 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10506 which group it belongs in.
10508 Virtual server settings:
10511 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10512 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10513 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10515 @item nnmbox-active-file
10516 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10517 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10519 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10520 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10521 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10527 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10531 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10532 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10533 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10534 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10535 article to say which group it belongs in.
10537 Virtual server settings:
10540 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10541 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10542 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10544 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10545 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10546 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10548 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10549 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10550 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10555 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10557 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10559 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10560 format. It should be used with some caution.
10562 @vindex nnml-directory
10563 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10564 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10565 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10566 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10568 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10571 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10572 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10573 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10574 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10575 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10576 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10577 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10578 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10580 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10581 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10582 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10583 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10585 Virtual server settings:
10588 @item nnml-directory
10589 @vindex nnml-directory
10590 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10592 @item nnml-active-file
10593 @vindex nnml-active-file
10594 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10596 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10597 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10598 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10601 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10602 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10603 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10605 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10606 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10607 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10609 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10610 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10611 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10613 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10614 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10615 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10619 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10620 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10621 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10622 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10623 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10624 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10625 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10630 @subsubsection MH Spool
10632 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10634 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10635 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10636 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10637 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10639 Virtual server settings:
10642 @item nnmh-directory
10643 @vindex nnmh-directory
10644 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10646 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10647 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10648 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10651 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10652 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10653 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10654 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10655 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10656 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10657 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10662 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10664 @cindex mbox folders
10665 @cindex mail folders
10667 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10668 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10669 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10672 Virtual server settings:
10675 @item nnfolder-directory
10676 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10677 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10679 @item nnfolder-active-file
10680 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10681 The name of the active file.
10683 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10684 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10685 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10687 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10688 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10689 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10691 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10692 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10693 @cindex backup files
10694 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10695 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10696 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10697 your @file{.emacs} file:
10700 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10701 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10703 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10706 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10707 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10708 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10709 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10710 extract some information from it before removing it.
10715 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10716 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10717 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10718 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10719 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10720 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10723 @node Other Sources
10724 @section Other Sources
10726 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10727 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10731 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10732 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10733 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10734 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10735 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10736 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10740 @node Directory Groups
10741 @subsection Directory Groups
10743 @cindex directory groups
10745 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10746 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10749 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10750 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10751 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10752 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10754 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10755 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10756 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10757 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10758 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10760 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10762 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10763 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10764 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10765 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10768 @node Anything Groups
10769 @subsection Anything Groups
10772 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10773 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10774 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10777 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10778 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10779 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10780 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10781 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10782 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10783 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10784 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10785 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10786 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10789 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10790 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10791 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10792 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10794 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10795 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10796 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10797 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10799 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10800 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10801 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10802 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10803 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10804 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10805 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10806 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10811 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10812 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10813 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10814 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10816 @item nneething-exclude-files
10817 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10818 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10819 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10821 @item nneething-include-files
10822 @vindex nneething-include-files
10823 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
10824 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
10826 @item nneething-map-file
10827 @vindex nneething-map-file
10828 Name of the map files.
10832 @node Document Groups
10833 @subsection Document Groups
10835 @cindex documentation group
10838 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10839 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10846 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10851 The standard Unix mbox file.
10853 @cindex MMDF mail box
10855 The MMDF mail box format.
10858 Several news articles appended into a file.
10861 @cindex rnews batch files
10862 The rnews batch transport format.
10863 @cindex forwarded messages
10866 Forwarded articles.
10869 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10873 @cindex MIME digest
10874 @cindex 1153 digest
10875 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10876 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10877 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10879 @item standard-digest
10880 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10883 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10886 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10887 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10888 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10891 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10892 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10893 group. And that's it.
10895 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10896 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10897 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10898 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10899 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10900 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10901 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10902 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10903 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10904 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10906 Virtual server variables:
10909 @item nndoc-article-type
10910 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10911 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10912 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10913 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10914 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10917 @item nndoc-post-type
10918 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10919 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10920 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10925 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10929 @node Document Server Internals
10930 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10932 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10933 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10934 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10935 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10937 First, here's an example document type definition:
10941 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10942 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10945 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10946 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10947 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10948 types can be defined with very few settings:
10951 @item first-article
10952 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10953 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10956 @item article-begin
10957 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10958 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10960 @item head-begin-function
10961 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10964 @item nndoc-head-begin
10965 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10968 @item nndoc-head-end
10969 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10970 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10972 @item body-begin-function
10973 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10977 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10980 @item body-end-function
10981 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10985 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10988 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10989 regexp will be totally ignored.
10993 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10994 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10995 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10996 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10997 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11000 @item prepare-body-function
11001 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11002 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11003 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11005 @item article-transform-function
11006 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11007 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11008 body of the article.
11010 @item generate-head-function
11011 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11012 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11013 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11014 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11018 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11023 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11024 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11025 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11026 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11027 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11028 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11029 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11030 (subtype digest guess))
11033 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11034 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11035 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11036 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11037 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11039 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11040 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11041 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11042 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11043 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
11044 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11045 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11046 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11047 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11048 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11056 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11057 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11058 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11060 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11061 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11062 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11065 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11066 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11067 that interested in doing things properly.
11069 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11070 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11073 First some terminology:
11078 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11079 get news and/or mail from.
11082 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11083 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11086 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11090 @item message packets
11091 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11092 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11093 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11095 @item response packets
11096 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11097 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11098 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11108 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11109 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11110 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11111 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11114 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11117 You put the packet in your home directory.
11120 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11121 the native or secondary server.
11124 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11125 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11128 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11132 You transfer this packet to the server.
11135 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11138 You then repeat until you die.
11142 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11143 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11146 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11147 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11148 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11152 @node SOUP Commands
11153 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11155 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11159 @kindex G s b (Group)
11160 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11161 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11162 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11163 process/prefix convention.
11166 @kindex G s w (Group)
11167 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11168 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11171 @kindex G s s (Group)
11172 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11173 Send all replies from the replies packet
11174 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11177 @kindex G s p (Group)
11178 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11179 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11182 @kindex G s r (Group)
11183 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11184 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11187 @kindex O s (Summary)
11188 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11189 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11190 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11191 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11196 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11201 @item gnus-soup-directory
11202 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11203 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11204 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11206 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11207 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11208 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11209 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11211 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11212 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11213 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11214 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11216 @item gnus-soup-packer
11217 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11218 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11219 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11221 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11222 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11223 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11224 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11226 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11227 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11228 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11230 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11231 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11232 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11233 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11239 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11242 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11243 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11244 you can read them at leisure.
11246 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11250 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11251 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11252 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11253 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11255 @item nnsoup-directory
11256 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11257 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11258 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11260 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11261 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11262 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11263 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11265 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11266 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11267 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11268 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11269 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11271 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11272 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11273 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11274 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11276 @item nnsoup-active-file
11277 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11278 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11279 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11280 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11281 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11283 @item nnsoup-packer
11284 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11285 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11286 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11288 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11289 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11290 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11291 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11293 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11294 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11295 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11298 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11299 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11300 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11303 @item nnsoup-always-save
11304 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11305 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11311 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11313 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11314 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11315 more for that to happen.
11317 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11318 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11319 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11322 In specific, this is what it does:
11325 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11326 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11329 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11330 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11331 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11335 @subsection Web Searches
11339 @cindex InReference
11340 @cindex Usenet searches
11341 @cindex searching the Usenet
11343 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11344 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11345 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11346 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11347 searches without having to use a browser.
11349 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11350 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11351 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11352 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11353 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11355 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11356 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11357 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11358 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11359 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11360 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11361 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11362 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11363 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11364 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11367 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11368 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11369 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'
\e,Aj
\e(Btre} is to
11370 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11371 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11372 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11374 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11375 to use @code{nnweb}.
11377 Virtual server variables:
11382 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11383 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11387 @vindex nnweb-search
11388 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11390 @item nnweb-max-hits
11391 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11392 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11395 @item nnweb-type-definition
11396 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11397 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11398 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11403 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11407 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11410 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11413 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11417 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11424 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11425 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11426 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11429 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11430 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11431 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11433 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11439 @item nngateway-address
11440 @vindex nngateway-address
11441 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11443 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11444 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11445 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11446 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11447 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11448 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11449 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11452 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11453 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11454 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11457 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11460 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11463 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11466 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11468 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11471 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11472 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11473 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11475 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11477 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11478 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11479 @code{nngateway-address}.
11484 (setq gnus-post-method
11485 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11486 (nngateway-header-transformation
11487 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11495 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11498 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11502 @node Combined Groups
11503 @section Combined Groups
11505 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11509 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11510 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11514 @node Virtual Groups
11515 @subsection Virtual Groups
11517 @cindex virtual groups
11518 @cindex merging groups
11520 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11523 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11524 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11525 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11527 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11528 regexp to match component groups.
11530 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11531 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11532 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11533 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11534 the virtual group.)
11536 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11537 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11540 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11543 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11544 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11546 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11547 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11548 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11549 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11552 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11555 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11556 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11557 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11559 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11560 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11561 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11562 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11563 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11565 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11566 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11567 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11569 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11570 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11571 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11572 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11573 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11574 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11575 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11576 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11577 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11578 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11579 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11581 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11582 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11583 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11584 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11585 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11586 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11587 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11589 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11590 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11594 @node Kibozed Groups
11595 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11599 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11600 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11601 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11602 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11604 @kindex G k (Group)
11605 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11608 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11609 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11610 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11611 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11613 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11614 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11615 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11617 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11618 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11619 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11620 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11621 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11622 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11623 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11624 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11626 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11627 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11628 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11629 Stranger things have happened.
11631 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11632 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11634 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11635 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11636 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11637 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11638 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11639 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11641 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11642 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11645 @node Gnus Unplugged
11646 @section Gnus Unplugged
11651 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11653 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11654 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11655 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11656 read news. Believe it or not.
11658 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11659 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11660 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11661 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11662 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11664 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11665 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11666 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11667 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11668 reading news on a machine.
11670 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11674 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11675 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11679 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11680 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11687 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11689 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11692 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11693 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11694 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11695 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11696 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11697 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11698 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11699 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11700 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11705 @subsection Agent Basics
11707 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11709 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11710 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11711 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11712 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11714 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11715 connected to the net continuously.
11717 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11718 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11720 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11725 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11726 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11727 already fetched while in this mode.
11730 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11731 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11732 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11735 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11736 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11737 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11738 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11741 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11742 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11743 then you read the news offline.
11746 And then you go to step 2.
11749 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11755 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11756 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11757 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11758 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11759 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11760 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11763 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11770 @node Agent Categories
11771 @subsection Agent Categories
11773 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11774 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11775 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11776 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11777 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11778 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11779 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11781 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11782 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11783 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11786 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11787 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11788 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11792 @node Category Syntax
11793 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11795 A category consists of two things.
11799 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11800 are eligible for downloading; and
11803 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11804 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11805 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
11808 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
11809 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
11810 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
11811 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
11813 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
11814 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
11815 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
11817 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
11818 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
11819 operators sprinkled in between.
11821 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11823 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11824 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11830 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11831 short (for some value of ``short'').
11833 Here's a more complex predicate:
11842 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11843 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11846 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11847 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11848 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11850 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11851 you want to do, you can write your own.
11855 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11856 lines; default 100.
11859 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11860 lines; default 200.
11863 True iff the article has a download score less than
11864 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11867 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11868 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11871 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11872 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11873 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11882 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11883 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11884 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11887 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
11888 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
11889 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
11890 something along the lines of the following:
11893 (defun my-article-old-p ()
11894 "Say whether an article is old."
11895 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
11896 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
11899 with the predicate then defined as:
11902 (not my-article-old-p)
11905 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
11906 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
11907 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
11908 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
11911 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
11912 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
11913 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
11916 and simply specify your predicate as:
11922 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
11923 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
11924 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
11925 just don't give a damm.
11928 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
11929 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
11930 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
11931 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
11932 parameters like so:
11935 (agent-predicate . short)
11938 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
11939 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
11940 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
11943 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
11946 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
11949 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
11950 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
11951 predicate is assumed to be a list.
11954 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11955 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11956 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11957 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
11958 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
11959 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
11961 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
11962 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
11963 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
11964 if it's to be specific to that group.
11966 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
11973 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
11974 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
11980 Category specification
11984 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11990 Group Parameter specification
11993 (agent-score ("from"
11994 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11999 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12005 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12012 Category specification
12015 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12021 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12025 Group Parameter specification
12028 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12031 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12036 Use @code{normal} score files
12038 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12039 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12040 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12041 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12043 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12044 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12045 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12046 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12050 Category Specification
12057 Group Parameter specification
12060 (agent-score . file)
12065 @node The Category Buffer
12066 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12068 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12069 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12070 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12072 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12076 @kindex q (Category)
12077 @findex gnus-category-exit
12078 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12081 @kindex k (Category)
12082 @findex gnus-category-kill
12083 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12086 @kindex c (Category)
12087 @findex gnus-category-copy
12088 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12091 @kindex a (Category)
12092 @findex gnus-category-add
12093 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12096 @kindex p (Category)
12097 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12098 Edit the predicate of the current category
12099 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12102 @kindex g (Category)
12103 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12104 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12105 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12108 @kindex s (Category)
12109 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12110 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12111 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12114 @kindex l (Category)
12115 @findex gnus-category-list
12116 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12120 @node Category Variables
12121 @subsubsection Category Variables
12124 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12125 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12126 Hook run in category buffers.
12128 @item gnus-category-line-format
12129 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12130 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12131 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12135 The name of the category.
12138 The number of groups in the category.
12141 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12142 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12143 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12145 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12146 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12147 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12149 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12150 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12151 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12153 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12154 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12155 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12158 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12159 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12160 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12166 @node Agent Commands
12167 @subsection Agent Commands
12169 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12170 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12171 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12175 * Group Agent Commands::
12176 * Summary Agent Commands::
12177 * Server Agent Commands::
12180 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12181 following incantation:
12183 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12185 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12190 @node Group Agent Commands
12191 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12195 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12196 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12197 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12198 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12201 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12202 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12203 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12206 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12207 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12208 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12209 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12212 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12213 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12214 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12215 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12218 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12219 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12220 Add the current group to an Agent category
12221 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
12226 @node Summary Agent Commands
12227 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12231 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12232 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12233 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12236 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12237 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12238 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12239 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12242 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12243 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12244 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12247 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12248 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12249 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12254 @node Server Agent Commands
12255 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12259 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12260 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12261 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12262 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12265 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12266 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12267 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12268 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12274 @subsection Agent Expiry
12276 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12277 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12278 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12279 @cindex Agent expiry
12280 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12283 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12284 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12285 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12286 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12287 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12288 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12290 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12291 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12292 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12293 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12294 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12297 @node Outgoing Messages
12298 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12300 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12301 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12302 after posting, and edit them at will.
12304 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12305 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12306 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12307 messages in the draft group.
12311 @node Agent Variables
12312 @subsection Agent Variables
12315 @item gnus-agent-directory
12316 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12317 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12318 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12320 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12321 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12322 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12323 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12324 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12327 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12328 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12329 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12331 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12332 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12333 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12338 @node Example Setup
12339 @subsection Example Setup
12341 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12342 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12343 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12346 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12347 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12348 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12350 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12351 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12352 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12353 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12355 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12356 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12358 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12362 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12363 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12366 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12367 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12368 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12369 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12370 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12373 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12374 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12375 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12376 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12377 back all the killed groups.)
12379 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12380 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12381 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12384 @node Batching Agents
12385 @subsection Batching Agents
12387 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12388 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12389 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12393 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12397 @node Agent Caveats
12398 @subsection Agent Caveats
12400 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12401 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12405 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12410 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12411 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12417 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12418 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12425 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12426 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12427 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12430 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12431 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12432 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12433 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12434 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12436 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12437 before generating the summary buffer.
12439 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12440 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12441 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12443 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12444 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12445 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12446 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12449 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12450 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12451 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12452 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12453 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12454 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12455 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12456 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12457 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12458 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12459 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12460 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12461 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12462 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12463 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12464 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12468 @node Summary Score Commands
12469 @section Summary Score Commands
12470 @cindex score commands
12472 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12473 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12474 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12475 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12476 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12478 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12479 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12480 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12481 score file the current one.
12483 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12488 @kindex V s (Summary)
12489 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12490 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12493 @kindex V S (Summary)
12494 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12495 Display the score of the current article
12496 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12499 @kindex V t (Summary)
12500 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12501 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12502 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12505 @kindex V R (Summary)
12506 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12507 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12508 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12509 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12510 effect you're having.
12513 @kindex V c (Summary)
12514 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12515 Make a different score file the current
12516 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12519 @kindex V e (Summary)
12520 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12521 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12522 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12526 @kindex V f (Summary)
12527 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12528 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12529 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12532 @kindex V F (Summary)
12533 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12534 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12535 after editing score files.
12538 @kindex V C (Summary)
12539 @findex gnus-score-customize
12540 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12541 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12545 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12550 @kindex V m (Summary)
12551 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12552 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12553 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12556 @kindex V x (Summary)
12557 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12558 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12559 expunge all articles below this score
12560 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12563 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12564 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12567 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12568 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12572 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12573 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12575 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12576 keys are available:
12580 Score on the author name.
12583 Score on the subject line.
12586 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12589 Score on the References line.
12595 Score on the number of lines.
12598 Score on the Message-ID.
12601 Score on followups.
12615 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12616 what headers you are scoring on.
12628 Substring matching.
12631 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12660 Greater than number.
12665 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12666 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12667 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12671 Temporary score entry.
12674 Permanent score entry.
12677 Immediately scoring.
12682 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12683 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12684 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12685 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12687 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12688 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12689 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12690 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12691 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12693 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12694 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12695 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12696 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12697 current score file.
12699 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12700 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12701 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12704 @node Group Score Commands
12705 @section Group Score Commands
12706 @cindex group score commands
12708 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12713 @kindex W f (Group)
12714 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12715 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12716 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12717 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12721 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12723 @findex gnus-batch-score
12724 @cindex batch scoring
12726 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12730 @node Score Variables
12731 @section Score Variables
12732 @cindex score variables
12736 @item gnus-use-scoring
12737 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12738 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12739 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12741 @item gnus-kill-killed
12742 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12743 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12744 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12745 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12746 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12747 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12748 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12750 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12751 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12752 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12753 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12754 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12756 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12757 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12758 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12759 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12761 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12762 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12763 @cindex score cache
12764 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12765 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12766 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
12767 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12768 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12769 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12772 @item gnus-save-score
12773 @vindex gnus-save-score
12774 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12775 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12776 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12778 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12779 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12780 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12781 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12782 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12783 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12784 manually entered data.
12786 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12787 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12788 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12790 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12791 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12792 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12793 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12794 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12795 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12797 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12798 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12799 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12800 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12802 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12803 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12804 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12805 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12807 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12808 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12809 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12810 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12812 Predefined functions available are:
12815 @item gnus-score-find-single
12816 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12817 Only apply the group's own score file.
12819 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12820 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12821 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12822 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12823 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12824 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12825 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12826 then a regexp match is done.
12828 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12829 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12831 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12832 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12833 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12834 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12836 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12837 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12838 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12839 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12840 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12843 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12844 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12845 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12846 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12847 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12848 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12851 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12852 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12853 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12854 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12855 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12857 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12858 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12859 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12860 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12861 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12862 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12863 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12866 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12867 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12868 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12870 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12871 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12872 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12873 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12874 threading---according to the current value of
12875 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12876 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12877 simplified in this manner.
12882 @node Score File Format
12883 @section Score File Format
12884 @cindex score file format
12886 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12887 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12888 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12890 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12894 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12896 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12898 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12900 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12905 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12909 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12910 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12911 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12912 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12916 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12917 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12919 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12920 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12921 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12923 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12928 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12929 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12930 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12931 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12932 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12933 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12934 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12935 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12936 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12937 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12938 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12939 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12940 to articles that matches these score entries.
12942 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12943 score entry has one to four elements.
12947 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12948 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12952 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12953 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12954 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12955 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12956 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12957 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12960 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12961 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12962 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12963 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12964 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12967 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12968 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12969 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12970 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12973 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12974 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12975 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12976 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12977 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12978 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12979 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12980 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12981 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12982 instead, if you feel like.
12985 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12986 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12988 These predicates are true if
12991 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12994 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12995 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13002 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13003 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13004 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13005 it's not. I think.)
13007 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13008 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13009 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13010 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13013 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13014 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13015 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13016 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13017 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13018 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13019 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13023 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13024 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13025 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13026 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13027 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13028 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13029 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13030 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13033 @item Head, Body, All
13034 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13038 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13039 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13040 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13041 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13042 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13043 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13044 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13048 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13049 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
13050 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13051 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13052 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13053 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13054 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13055 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13056 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13057 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13061 @cindex Score File Atoms
13063 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13064 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13067 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13068 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13070 @item mark-and-expunge
13071 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13072 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13075 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13076 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13077 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13078 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13079 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13082 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13083 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13086 @item exclude-files
13087 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13088 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13092 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13093 ignored when handling global score files.
13096 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13097 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13098 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13099 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13102 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13103 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13104 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13105 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13107 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13111 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13114 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13115 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13116 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13117 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13118 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13120 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13121 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13122 ordinary scoring rules.
13125 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13126 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13127 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13128 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13129 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13130 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13131 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13132 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13133 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13134 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13135 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13139 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13140 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13141 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13142 file for a number of groups.
13145 @cindex local variables
13146 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13147 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13148 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13149 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13150 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13154 @node Score File Editing
13155 @section Score File Editing
13157 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13158 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13159 with a mode for that.
13161 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13162 additional commands:
13167 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13168 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13169 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13170 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13173 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13174 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13175 Insert the current date in numerical format
13176 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13177 you were wondering.
13180 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13181 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13182 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13183 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13184 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13189 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13191 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13192 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13194 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13195 e} to begin editing score files.
13198 @node Adaptive Scoring
13199 @section Adaptive Scoring
13200 @cindex adaptive scoring
13202 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13203 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13204 stupidity, to be precise.
13206 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13207 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13208 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13209 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13210 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13211 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13212 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13213 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13214 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13216 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13217 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13218 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13219 might look something like this:
13222 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13223 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13224 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13225 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13226 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13227 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13228 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13229 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13230 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13231 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13232 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13233 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13236 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13237 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13238 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13239 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13240 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13241 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13244 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13245 will be applied to each article.
13247 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13248 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13249 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13250 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13252 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13253 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13254 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13255 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13257 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13258 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13259 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13260 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13262 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13263 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13264 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13265 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13266 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13267 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13269 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13270 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13271 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13272 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13273 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13274 aspirins afterwards.)
13276 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13277 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13278 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13280 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13281 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13282 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13284 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13285 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13286 let you use different rules in different groups.
13288 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13289 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13290 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13293 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13294 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13295 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13296 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13297 the length of the match is less than
13298 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13299 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13302 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13303 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13304 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13305 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13306 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13309 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13310 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13311 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13312 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13313 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13316 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13317 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13318 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13319 score with 30 points.
13321 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13322 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13323 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13324 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13325 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13327 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13328 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13329 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13330 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13332 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13333 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13334 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13335 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13337 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13338 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13339 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13340 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13341 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13343 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13344 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13345 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13347 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13348 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13349 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13350 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13353 @node Home Score File
13354 @section Home Score File
13356 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13357 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13358 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13359 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13361 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13362 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13363 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13365 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13366 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13371 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13375 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13376 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13380 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13384 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13385 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13388 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13389 the home score file.
13392 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13395 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13400 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13403 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13404 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13407 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13408 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13410 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13412 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13413 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13416 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13417 Other functions include
13420 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13421 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13422 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13423 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13427 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13428 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13429 their own home score files:
13432 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13433 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13434 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13435 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13436 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13439 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13440 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13441 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13442 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13443 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13445 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13446 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13447 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13448 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13449 precedence over this variable.
13452 @node Followups To Yourself
13453 @section Followups To Yourself
13455 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13456 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13457 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13458 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13459 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13460 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13464 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13465 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13466 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13469 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13470 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13471 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13475 @vindex message-sent-hook
13476 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13477 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13479 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13480 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13484 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13485 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13488 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13489 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13494 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13498 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13499 is system-dependent.
13503 @section Scoring Tips
13504 @cindex scoring tips
13510 @cindex scoring crossposts
13511 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13512 the @code{Xref} header.
13514 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13517 @item Multiple crossposts
13518 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13519 more than, say, 3 groups:
13521 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13524 @item Matching on the body
13525 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13526 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13527 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13528 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13529 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13530 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13531 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13534 @item Marking as read
13535 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13536 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13537 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13541 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13543 @item Negated character classes
13544 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13545 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13546 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13550 @node Reverse Scoring
13551 @section Reverse Scoring
13552 @cindex reverse scoring
13554 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13555 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13556 like this in your score file:
13560 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13565 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13566 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13569 @node Global Score Files
13570 @section Global Score Files
13571 @cindex global score files
13573 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13574 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13575 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13577 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13578 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13579 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13581 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13582 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13583 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13584 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13585 files are applicable to which group.
13587 Say you want to use the score file
13588 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13589 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13592 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13593 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13594 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13597 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13598 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13599 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13600 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13601 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13603 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13604 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13606 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13607 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13608 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13609 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13610 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13611 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13613 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13619 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13621 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13623 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13625 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13626 lowered out of existence.
13628 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13629 articles completely.
13632 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13633 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13634 old articles for a long time.
13637 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13638 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13639 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13640 holding our breath yet?
13644 @section Kill Files
13647 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13648 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13649 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13651 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13652 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13653 files into score files.
13655 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13656 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13657 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13658 that isn't a very good idea.
13660 Normal kill files look like this:
13663 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13664 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13668 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13669 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13671 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13672 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13675 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13680 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13681 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13682 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13685 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13686 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13687 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13690 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13695 @kindex M-k (Group)
13696 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13697 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13700 @kindex M-K (Group)
13701 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13702 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13705 Kill file variables:
13708 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13709 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13710 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13711 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13712 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13713 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13714 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13716 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13717 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13718 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13719 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13722 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13723 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13724 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13725 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13726 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13727 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13728 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13729 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13730 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13732 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13733 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13734 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13739 @node Converting Kill Files
13740 @section Converting Kill Files
13742 @cindex converting kill files
13744 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13745 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13746 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13749 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13750 You can fetch it from
13751 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13753 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13754 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13755 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13763 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13764 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13765 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13767 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13768 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13769 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13770 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13771 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13772 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13773 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13774 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13778 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13779 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13780 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13781 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13785 @node Using GroupLens
13786 @subsection Using GroupLens
13788 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13790 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13791 better bit in town at the moment.
13793 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13797 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13798 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13799 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13800 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13802 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13803 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13804 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13805 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13807 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13808 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13809 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13813 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13814 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13815 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13816 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13817 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13818 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13821 @node Rating Articles
13822 @subsection Rating Articles
13824 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13825 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13826 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13827 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13830 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13835 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13836 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13837 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13840 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13841 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13842 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13843 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13844 threads in rec.humor.
13848 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13849 the score of the article you're reading.
13854 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13855 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13856 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13859 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13860 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13861 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13865 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13866 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13869 @node Displaying Predictions
13870 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13872 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13873 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13874 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13875 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13876 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13878 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13879 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13880 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13881 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13882 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13883 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13884 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13885 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13886 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13887 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13888 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13889 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13890 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13892 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13893 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13894 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13895 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13897 The following are valid values for that variable.
13900 @item prediction-spot
13901 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13904 @item confidence-interval
13905 A numeric confidence interval.
13907 @item prediction-bar
13908 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13910 @item confidence-bar
13911 Numerical confidence.
13913 @item confidence-spot
13914 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13916 @item prediction-num
13917 Plain-old numeric value.
13919 @item confidence-plus-minus
13920 Prediction +/- confidence.
13925 @node GroupLens Variables
13926 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13930 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13931 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13932 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13933 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13936 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13937 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13940 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13941 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13943 @item grouplens-score-offset
13944 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13945 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13948 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13949 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13950 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13955 @node Advanced Scoring
13956 @section Advanced Scoring
13958 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13959 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13960 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13961 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13962 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13964 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13968 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13969 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13970 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13974 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13975 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13977 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13978 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13979 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13980 non-@code{nil} value.
13982 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13983 operator, and various match operators.
13990 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13991 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13992 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13997 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13998 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13999 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14004 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14005 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14009 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14010 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14011 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14012 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14013 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14014 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14015 the ancestry you want to go.
14017 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14018 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14019 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14020 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14021 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14024 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14025 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14027 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14028 when he's talking about Gnus:
14032 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14033 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14039 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14043 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14050 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14051 really don't want to read what he's written:
14055 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14056 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14060 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14061 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14062 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14069 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14070 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14071 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14072 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14076 The possibilities are endless.
14079 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14080 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14082 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14083 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14084 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14085 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14086 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14087 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14088 @samp{subject}) first.
14090 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14091 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14102 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14103 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14109 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14116 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14117 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14122 @section Score Decays
14123 @cindex score decays
14126 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14127 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14128 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14129 use them in any sensible way.
14131 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14132 @findex gnus-decay-score
14133 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14134 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14135 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14136 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14137 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14138 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14139 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14140 definition of that function:
14143 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14145 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14146 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14149 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14151 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14153 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14156 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14157 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14158 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14159 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14163 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14166 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14169 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14173 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14174 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14175 the new score, which should be an integer.
14177 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14178 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14185 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14186 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14187 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14188 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14189 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14190 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14191 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14192 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14193 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14194 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14195 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14196 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14197 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14198 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14199 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14200 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14201 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14202 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14206 @node Process/Prefix
14207 @section Process/Prefix
14208 @cindex process/prefix convention
14210 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14211 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14213 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14214 command to be performed on.
14218 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14219 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14220 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14221 with the current one.
14223 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14224 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14225 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14227 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14228 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14231 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14232 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14234 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14237 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14238 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14239 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14240 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14242 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14243 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14244 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14245 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14246 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14247 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14248 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14249 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14253 @section Interactive
14254 @cindex interaction
14258 @item gnus-novice-user
14259 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14260 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14261 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14262 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14263 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14266 @item gnus-expert-user
14267 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14268 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14269 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14270 matter how strange.
14272 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14273 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14274 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14275 is @code{t} by default.
14277 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14278 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14279 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14284 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14285 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14286 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14288 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14289 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14290 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14291 rule of 900 to the current article.
14293 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14294 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14295 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14296 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14297 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14298 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14299 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14301 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14302 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14303 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14304 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14305 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14306 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14307 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14308 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14309 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14311 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14312 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14313 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14315 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14319 @node Formatting Variables
14320 @section Formatting Variables
14321 @cindex formatting variables
14323 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14324 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14325 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14326 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14327 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14330 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14331 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14332 lots of percentages everywhere.
14335 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14336 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14337 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14338 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14339 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14342 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14343 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14344 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14345 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14346 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14347 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14348 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14349 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14351 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14352 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14354 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14355 @findex gnus-update-format
14356 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14357 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14358 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14359 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14363 @node Formatting Basics
14364 @subsection Formatting Basics
14366 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14367 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14368 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14370 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14371 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14372 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14373 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14374 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14377 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14378 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14379 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14380 less than 4 characters wide.
14383 @node Mode Line Formatting
14384 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14386 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14387 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14388 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14389 with the following two differences:
14394 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14397 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14398 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14399 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14400 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14401 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14402 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14403 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14408 @node Advanced Formatting
14409 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14411 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14412 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14413 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14414 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14416 These are the valid modifiers:
14421 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14425 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14430 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14433 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14438 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14441 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14444 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14447 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14451 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14452 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14453 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14454 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14455 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14456 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14457 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14459 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14460 last operation, padding.
14462 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14463 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14464 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14465 @xref{Compilation}.
14468 @node User-Defined Specs
14469 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14471 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14472 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14473 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14474 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14475 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14476 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14477 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14478 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14479 should protect against that.
14481 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14482 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14483 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14484 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14488 @node Formatting Fonts
14489 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14491 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14492 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14493 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14494 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14497 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14498 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14499 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14500 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14501 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14502 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14504 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14505 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14506 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14507 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14508 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14509 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14510 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14511 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14513 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14516 ;; Create three face types.
14517 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14518 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14520 ;; We want the article count to be in
14521 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14522 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14523 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14525 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14526 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14528 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14529 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14530 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14533 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14534 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14536 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14537 mode-line variables.
14540 @node Windows Configuration
14541 @section Windows Configuration
14542 @cindex windows configuration
14544 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14546 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14547 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14548 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14549 @code{t} by default.
14551 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14552 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14554 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14555 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14556 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14559 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14560 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14561 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14565 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14566 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14567 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14568 possible names is listed below.
14570 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14571 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14574 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14578 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14579 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14580 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14581 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14582 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14583 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14584 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14585 size spec per split.
14587 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14588 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14589 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14590 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14591 present) gets focus.
14593 Here's a more complicated example:
14596 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14597 (summary 0.25 point)
14598 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14602 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14603 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14604 occupy, not a percentage.
14606 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14607 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14608 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14609 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14610 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14613 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14616 (article (horizontal 1.0
14621 (summary 0.25 point)
14626 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14627 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14629 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14630 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14631 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14632 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14633 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14635 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14636 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14637 lines from the splits.
14639 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14643 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14644 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14645 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14646 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14647 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14648 size = number | frame-params
14649 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14652 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14653 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14654 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14655 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14657 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14658 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14659 @cindex window height
14660 @cindex window width
14661 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14662 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14663 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14664 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14665 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14666 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14668 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14669 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14670 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14671 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14673 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14674 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14675 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14676 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14677 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14678 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14679 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14680 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14681 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14682 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14683 configuration list.
14686 (gnus-configure-frame
14690 (article 0.3 point))
14698 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14699 @code{frame} split:
14702 (gnus-configure-frame
14705 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14707 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14708 (user-position . t)
14709 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14714 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14715 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14716 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14717 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14718 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14719 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14720 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14721 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14724 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14725 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14727 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14728 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14729 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14730 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14731 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14732 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14734 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14735 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14736 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14740 (message (horizontal 1.0
14741 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14743 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14748 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14749 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14750 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14751 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14752 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14755 (gnus-add-configuration
14756 '(article (vertical 1.0
14758 (summary .25 point)
14762 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14763 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14764 Gnus has been loaded.
14766 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14767 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14768 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14769 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14770 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14772 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
14773 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
14774 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
14778 @node Faces and Fonts
14779 @section Faces and Fonts
14784 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14785 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14786 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14791 @section Compilation
14792 @cindex compilation
14793 @cindex byte-compilation
14795 @findex gnus-compile
14797 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14798 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14799 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14800 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14801 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14802 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14805 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14806 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14807 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14808 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14809 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14810 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14811 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14815 @section Mode Lines
14818 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14819 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14820 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14821 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14822 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14823 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14824 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14827 @cindex display-time
14829 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14830 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14831 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14832 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14833 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14834 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14835 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14836 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14839 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14841 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14842 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14844 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14845 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14846 (length display-time-string)))))
14849 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14850 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14851 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14852 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14853 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14856 @node Highlighting and Menus
14857 @section Highlighting and Menus
14859 @cindex highlighting
14862 @vindex gnus-visual
14863 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14864 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14865 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14868 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14869 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14872 @item group-highlight
14873 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14874 @item summary-highlight
14875 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14876 @item article-highlight
14877 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14880 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14882 Create menus in the group buffer.
14884 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14886 Create menus in the article buffer.
14888 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14890 Create menus in the server buffer.
14892 Create menus in the score buffers.
14894 Create menus in all buffers.
14897 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14898 buffers, you could say something like:
14901 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14904 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14907 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14910 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14911 in all Gnus buffers.
14913 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14916 @item gnus-mouse-face
14917 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14918 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14919 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14923 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14927 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14928 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14929 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14931 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14932 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14933 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14935 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14936 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14937 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14939 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14940 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14941 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14943 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14944 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14945 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14947 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14948 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14949 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14960 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14961 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14962 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14963 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14964 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14968 @vindex gnus-carpal
14969 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14970 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14971 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14976 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14977 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14978 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14980 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14981 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14982 Face used on buttons.
14984 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14985 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14986 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14988 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14989 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14990 Buttons in the group buffer.
14992 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14993 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14994 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14996 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14997 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14998 Buttons in the server buffer.
15000 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15001 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15002 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15005 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15006 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15007 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15015 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15016 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15017 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15018 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15019 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15021 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15022 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15023 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15025 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15026 been idle for thirty minutes:
15029 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15032 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15036 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15039 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15040 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15041 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15043 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15044 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15045 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15046 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15048 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15049 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15050 @var{idle} minutes.
15052 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15053 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15056 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15057 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15058 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15060 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15061 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15062 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15063 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15065 @vindex gnus-use-demon
15066 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
15067 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
15069 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15070 your @file{.gnus} file:
15072 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15074 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15077 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15078 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15079 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15080 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15081 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15082 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15083 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15084 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15085 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15086 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15087 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15089 @findex gnus-demon-init
15090 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15091 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15092 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15093 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15094 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15096 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15097 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15098 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15107 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15108 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15110 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15111 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15112 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15113 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15116 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15117 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15118 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15119 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15121 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15122 this will make spam disappear.
15124 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15127 @item gnus-use-nocem
15128 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15129 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15132 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15133 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15134 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15135 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15136 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15138 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15139 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15140 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15141 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15142 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15143 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15144 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15146 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15149 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15150 @cindex Chris Lewis
15151 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15152 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15155 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15156 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15157 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15159 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15161 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15164 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15165 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15166 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15169 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15170 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15171 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15172 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15173 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15174 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15175 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15176 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15177 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15178 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15180 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15181 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15184 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15187 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15188 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15191 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15194 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15197 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15198 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15200 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15201 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15202 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15203 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15205 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15206 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15209 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15211 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15219 This might be dangerous, though.
15221 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15222 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15223 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15224 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15226 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15227 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15228 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15229 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15230 might then see old spam.
15234 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15235 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15236 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15237 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15244 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15245 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15246 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15248 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15249 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15250 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15251 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15252 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15253 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15254 @code{undo} function.
15256 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15257 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15258 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15259 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15260 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15261 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15262 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15263 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15264 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15265 never be totally undoable.
15267 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15268 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15270 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15271 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15272 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15273 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15278 @section Moderation
15281 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15282 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15283 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15286 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15290 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15293 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15295 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15300 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15301 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15302 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15305 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15306 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15309 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15310 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15314 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15317 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15318 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15322 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15323 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15326 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15330 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15331 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15332 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15333 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15346 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15347 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15348 over your shoulder as you read news.
15351 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15352 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15353 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15354 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15355 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15360 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15362 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15371 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15372 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15373 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15374 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15375 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15376 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15377 @code{GIF} formats.
15380 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15381 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15382 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15383 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15384 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15386 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15387 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15388 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15389 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15390 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15391 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15394 @node Picon Requirements
15395 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15397 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15398 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15401 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15402 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15403 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15405 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15406 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15407 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15408 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15409 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15413 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15415 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15416 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15419 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15420 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15421 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15422 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15423 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
15426 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15427 containing the Picons databases.
15429 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15432 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15433 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15438 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15446 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15447 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15448 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15449 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15450 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15455 @item gnus-picons-database
15456 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15457 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15458 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15459 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15460 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15461 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15463 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15464 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15465 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15466 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15467 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15468 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15469 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15471 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15472 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15473 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15474 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15475 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15476 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15477 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15478 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15480 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15481 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15482 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15487 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15488 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15490 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15491 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15494 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15495 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15497 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15498 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15499 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15500 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15501 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15503 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15504 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15505 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15506 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15510 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15511 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15514 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15518 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15519 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15527 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15528 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15529 don't need to worry about.
15533 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15534 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15535 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15536 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15538 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15539 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15540 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15541 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15543 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15544 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15545 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15546 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15547 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15549 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15550 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15551 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15552 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15553 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15554 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15555 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15557 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15558 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15559 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15560 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15562 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15563 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15564 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15565 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15566 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15567 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15568 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15570 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15571 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15572 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15573 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15575 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15576 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15577 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15578 Defaults to @code{t}.
15580 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15581 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15582 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15583 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15585 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
15586 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
15587 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
15589 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15590 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15591 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15592 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15594 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
15595 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
15597 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15598 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15599 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15600 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15601 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15602 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15603 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15604 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15615 @subsection Smileys
15620 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15625 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15626 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15628 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15629 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15632 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15635 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15636 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15637 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15638 text and maps that to file names.
15640 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15641 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15642 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15643 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15644 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15645 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15647 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15648 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15650 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15651 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15652 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15654 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15655 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15659 @item smiley-data-directory
15660 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15661 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15663 @item smiley-flesh-color
15664 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15665 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15667 @item smiley-features-color
15668 @vindex smiley-features-color
15669 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15671 @item smiley-tongue-color
15672 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15673 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15675 @item smiley-circle-color
15676 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15677 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15679 @item smiley-mouse-face
15680 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15681 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15687 @subsection Toolbar
15697 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15698 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15699 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15700 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15701 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15703 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15704 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15705 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15707 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15708 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15709 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15711 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15712 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15713 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15719 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15722 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15723 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15724 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15725 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15726 unusual directory structure.
15728 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15729 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15730 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15731 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15733 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15734 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15735 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15736 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15737 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15738 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15740 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15741 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15742 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15756 @node Fuzzy Matching
15757 @section Fuzzy Matching
15758 @cindex fuzzy matching
15760 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15761 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15763 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15764 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15765 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15767 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15768 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15769 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15770 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15771 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15774 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15775 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15779 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15781 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15782 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15783 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15784 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15785 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15786 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15787 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15788 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15791 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15792 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15793 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15794 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15795 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15796 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15800 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15801 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15803 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15804 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15805 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15806 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15807 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15808 part of the mail address.)
15811 (setq message-default-news-headers
15812 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15815 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15816 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15821 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15822 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15823 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15829 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15830 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15831 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15832 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15834 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15835 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15836 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15837 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15838 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15839 your fancy split rule in this way:
15844 (to "larsi" "misc")
15848 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15849 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15850 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15851 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15852 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15854 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15855 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15856 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15857 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15858 cosmic balance somewhat.
15860 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15861 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15862 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15863 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15866 @node Various Various
15867 @section Various Various
15873 @item gnus-home-directory
15874 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15875 defaults to @file{~/}.
15877 @item gnus-directory
15878 @vindex gnus-directory
15879 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15880 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15881 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15883 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15884 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15885 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15886 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15888 @item gnus-default-directory
15889 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15890 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15891 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15892 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15893 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15894 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15895 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15898 @vindex gnus-verbose
15899 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15900 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15901 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15902 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15903 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15905 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15906 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15907 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15908 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15910 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15911 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15912 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15913 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15914 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15915 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15916 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15917 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15918 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15919 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15921 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15922 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15923 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15924 read when doing the operation described above.
15926 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15927 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15929 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15930 @cindex characters in file names
15931 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15932 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15933 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15936 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15940 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15941 Windows (phooey) systems.
15943 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15944 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15945 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15946 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15947 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15949 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15950 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15951 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15952 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15953 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15955 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15956 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15957 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15966 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15967 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15969 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15971 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15977 Not because of victories @*
15980 but for the common sunshine,@*
15982 the largess of the spring.
15986 but for the day's work done@*
15987 as well as I was able;@*
15988 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15989 but at the common table.@*
15994 @chapter Appendices
15997 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15998 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15999 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
16000 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
16001 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16002 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16003 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16011 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16012 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16014 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16015 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16016 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16017 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16018 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16020 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16021 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16022 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16023 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16024 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16025 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16027 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16028 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16029 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16030 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16032 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16033 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16034 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16036 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16037 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16039 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16040 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16042 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16043 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16045 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16046 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16047 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16048 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16049 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16053 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16054 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16055 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16056 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16057 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16058 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16059 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16066 What's the point of Gnus?
16068 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16069 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16070 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16071 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16072 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16073 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16074 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16075 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16076 keep track of millions of people who post?
16078 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16079 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16080 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16081 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16082 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16083 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16084 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16085 every one of you to explore and invent.
16087 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16088 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16091 @node Compatibility
16092 @subsection Compatibility
16094 @cindex compatibility
16095 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16096 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16097 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16102 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16106 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16109 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16112 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16113 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16114 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16115 important variables have their values copied into their global
16116 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16117 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16119 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16120 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16121 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16122 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16123 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16127 @cindex highlighting
16128 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16129 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16130 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16131 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16132 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16133 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16136 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16137 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16138 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16139 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16141 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16142 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16143 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16144 to stop doing it the old way.
16146 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16148 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16150 @cindex reporting bugs
16152 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16153 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16154 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16156 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16157 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16158 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16159 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16164 @subsection Conformity
16166 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16167 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16174 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16178 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16180 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16181 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16182 We do have some breaches to this one.
16187 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
16188 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
16191 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
16192 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
16193 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
16194 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
16195 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16200 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16201 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16202 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16203 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16207 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16208 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16213 @subsection Emacsen
16219 Gnus should work on :
16227 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16231 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16232 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16235 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16236 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16237 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16242 @subsection Contributors
16243 @cindex contributors
16245 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16246 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16247 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16248 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16249 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16250 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16251 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16252 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16253 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16254 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16256 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16262 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16265 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16266 well as numerous other things).
16269 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16272 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16275 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16276 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16279 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16280 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16283 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16286 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16287 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16290 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16293 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16296 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16299 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16302 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16303 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16306 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16309 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16312 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16315 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16319 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16322 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16325 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16328 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16329 well as autoconf support.
16333 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16334 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16336 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16341 David K
\e,Ae
\e(Bgedal,
16345 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16349 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16371 Massimo Campostrini,
16379 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16385 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16388 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16392 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16399 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16401 Michelangelo Grigni,
16404 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16406 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16408 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16413 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Felix Ingrand,
16414 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16416 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16425 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16426 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16427 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16428 Thor Kristoffersen,
16431 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16448 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16449 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16456 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16460 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16463 John McClary Prevost,
16469 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16474 Christian von Roques,
16476 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16483 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16485 Randal L. Schwartz,
16515 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka.
16517 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16518 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16519 (550kB and counting).
16521 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16524 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16525 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16529 @subsection New Features
16530 @cindex new features
16533 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16534 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16535 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16536 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16539 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16540 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16541 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16545 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16547 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16552 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16553 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16556 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16557 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16560 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16563 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16564 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16565 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16568 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16569 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16570 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16571 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16574 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16575 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16578 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16579 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16580 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16583 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16584 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16587 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16588 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16589 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16592 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16593 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16594 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16597 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16598 the @file{.emacs} file.
16601 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16602 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16605 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16606 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16609 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16610 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16613 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16614 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16617 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16618 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16621 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16624 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16625 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16628 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16629 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16632 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16633 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16636 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16639 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16640 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16643 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16647 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16651 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16652 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16655 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16661 @node September Gnus
16662 @subsubsection September Gnus
16666 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16670 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16675 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16676 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16680 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16681 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16685 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16689 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16690 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16693 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16697 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16700 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16703 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16706 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16710 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16711 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16714 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16718 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16722 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16726 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16730 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16733 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16734 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16737 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16741 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16742 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16745 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16748 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16749 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16750 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16753 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16757 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16760 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16764 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16765 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16768 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16769 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16772 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16773 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16776 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16777 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16778 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16781 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16782 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16785 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16788 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16791 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16792 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16796 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16799 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16802 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16803 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16806 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16810 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16813 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16818 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16821 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16825 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16828 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16832 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16835 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16838 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16839 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16842 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16843 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16847 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16848 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16851 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16855 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16856 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16859 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16862 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16866 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16870 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16871 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16874 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16878 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16879 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16882 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16883 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16886 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16890 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16893 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16894 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16898 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16901 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16907 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16909 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16913 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16920 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16923 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16924 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16927 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16928 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16932 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16933 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16936 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16939 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16940 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16943 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16947 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16948 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16952 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16953 Server Internals}).
16956 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16960 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16963 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16964 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16967 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16968 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16969 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16972 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16973 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16976 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16977 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16980 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16984 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16985 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16988 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16989 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16992 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16996 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16999 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17003 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17004 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17007 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17008 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17011 A new command for reading collections of documents
17012 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17013 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17016 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17020 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17021 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17024 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17025 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17026 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17029 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17030 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17034 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17038 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17042 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17047 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17051 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17055 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17056 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17059 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17062 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
17063 'gnus-article-emphasize)
17070 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17072 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17077 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17078 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17079 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17082 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17083 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17084 group, which is created automatically.
17087 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17091 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17094 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17095 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17098 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17102 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17105 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17106 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17109 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17112 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17113 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17116 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17117 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17120 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17121 control over simplification.
17124 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17127 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17131 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17134 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17137 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17138 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17139 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17142 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17143 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17146 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17150 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17151 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17154 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17155 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17158 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17162 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17165 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17168 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17169 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17172 A new function for citing in Message has been
17173 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17176 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17179 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17183 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17184 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17187 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17188 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17191 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17194 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17199 @node Newest Features
17200 @subsection Newest Features
17203 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17206 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17208 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17209 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17212 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17217 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
17220 Really do unbinhexing.
17223 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17224 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17227 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17230 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17233 facep is not declared.
17236 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17237 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17240 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17245 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17246 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17247 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17248 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17249 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17250 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17251 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17256 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17259 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17262 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17264 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17265 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17267 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17269 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17271 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17272 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17274 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17276 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17277 be marked as unread.
17279 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17281 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17283 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17284 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17286 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17288 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17290 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17291 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17293 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17294 articles aren't displayed.
17296 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17298 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17299 make the mail groups killed.
17301 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17303 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17304 and articles have to be removed.
17306 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17309 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17311 finding short score file names takes forever.
17313 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17315 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17317 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17319 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17321 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17323 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17325 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17326 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17330 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17332 really unbinhex binhex files.
17334 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17335 bar and the Gnus bar.
17338 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17339 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17340 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17341 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17342 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17343 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17348 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17352 postponed commands.
17354 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17356 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17359 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17360 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17362 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17363 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17365 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17367 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17368 for backends that support that.
17370 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17372 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17373 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17375 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17376 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17378 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17380 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17382 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17384 server mode command: close/open all connections
17386 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17387 has been changed before using it.
17389 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17391 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17393 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17395 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17397 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17398 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17400 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17401 contain groups that match a regexp.
17403 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17406 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17409 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17410 from subject lines.
17412 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17414 nntp-ping-before-connect
17416 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17418 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17419 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17421 message annotations.
17423 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17425 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17426 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17428 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17433 support qmail maildir spools
17435 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17437 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17439 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17441 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17442 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17444 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17446 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17448 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17449 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17451 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17452 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17454 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17456 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17458 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17459 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17461 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17463 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17465 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17466 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17469 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17471 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17473 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17474 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17476 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17479 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17480 should be marker as expirable.
17482 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17484 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17485 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17487 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17488 Also consult Date headers.
17490 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17492 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17494 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17495 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17497 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17498 into a See-Also header.
17500 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17502 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17504 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17505 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17507 generate font names dynamically.
17509 score file mode auto-alist.
17511 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17512 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17514 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17515 absolutely all headers there is.
17517 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17518 and pipe them to the process.
17520 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17521 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17522 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17524 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17525 the current mail group.
17527 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17529 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17530 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17532 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17533 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17535 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17537 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17538 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17540 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17541 groups it has been mailed to.
17543 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17545 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17547 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17549 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17550 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17552 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17553 newlines) should be ignored.
17555 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17556 groups in subtopics as well.
17558 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17560 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17563 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17565 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17567 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17569 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17571 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17573 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17575 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17576 or the formatted article.
17578 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17580 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17581 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17583 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17585 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17587 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17589 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17590 even unread articles.
17592 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17594 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17596 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17598 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17600 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17602 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17605 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17606 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17608 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17609 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17611 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17613 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17615 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17616 from a particular server? Hm.
17618 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17619 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17621 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17623 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17624 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17626 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17627 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17629 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17630 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17631 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17634 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17635 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17637 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17639 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17641 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17643 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17646 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17649 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17650 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17652 command to show and edit group scores
17654 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17657 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17659 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17661 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17662 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17665 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17666 that are of that length.
17668 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17670 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17672 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17674 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17676 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17678 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17680 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17681 a score lower than this number.
17683 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17685 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17687 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17688 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17690 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17692 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17693 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17695 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17698 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17699 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17700 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17701 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17703 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17706 command to remove all topic stuff.
17708 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17709 and splitting the resulting digests.
17711 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17713 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17715 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17716 matches an alist -- before saving.
17718 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17720 variable to activate each group before entering them
17721 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17723 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17724 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17726 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17727 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17729 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17731 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17732 of several groups at once.
17734 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17735 matches some regexp(s).
17737 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17739 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17741 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17743 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17745 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17747 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17749 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17751 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17752 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17753 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17754 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17756 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17757 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17759 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17761 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17762 recently cited text.
17764 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17766 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17769 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17770 server and just read the articles in the server
17772 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17773 value of nnoo variables.
17775 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17777 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17778 listed in each group info.
17780 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17783 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17784 should only be applied to some groups.
17786 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17787 mail-copies-to: never.
17789 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17790 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17792 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
17794 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17797 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17800 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17802 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17805 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17809 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17811 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17812 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17813 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17814 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17815 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17817 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17818 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17825 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17826 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17828 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17829 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17831 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17832 "Return the date the group was last read."
17833 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17838 tanken var at n
\e,Ae
\e(Br du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til ilete
17839 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en
17840 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17841 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17845 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17846 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17848 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17851 They could be used like this:
17855 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17856 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17857 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17859 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17861 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17864 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17867 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17868 affect the summary line format.
17872 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17874 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17875 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17877 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17880 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17882 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17884 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17886 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17888 - For other files, just find them normally.
17890 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17891 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17894 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17895 tell him what you are doing.
17898 Currently, I get prompted:
17902 decend into sci.something ?
17906 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17907 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17908 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17909 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17912 Ja, det burde v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en m
\e,Ae
\e(Bte
\e,Ae
\e(B si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17913 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? S
\e,Ae
\e(B kunne score-regler legges til den
17914 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17915 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17918 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17919 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17925 more than n blank lines
17927 more than m identical lines
17928 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17930 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17934 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17935 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17936 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17937 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17940 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17941 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17942 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17943 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17946 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17949 soup - bowl of soup
17950 score below - dim light bulb
17951 score over - bright light bulb
17954 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17959 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17960 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17961 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17962 if (articles-selected)
17963 start-reading-selected-articles;
17964 junk-unread-articles;
17969 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17970 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17971 select-thread-under-cursor;
17973 select-article-under-cursor;
17977 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17978 if (more-pages-in-article)
17980 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17987 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17988 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17989 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17992 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17993 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17994 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17995 the wildcard expression).
17998 It would be nice if it also handled
18000 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18002 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18007 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18008 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18009 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18010 article versions) variable.
18012 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18014 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18015 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18019 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18022 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18023 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18024 (message-sent-hook).
18026 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18029 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18033 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18034 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18037 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18038 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18039 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18042 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18043 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18047 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18050 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18054 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18055 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18058 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18059 value of the signature file.
18062 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18063 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18066 (setq message-tab-alist
18067 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18068 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18070 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18074 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18077 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18080 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18083 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18084 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18087 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18090 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18091 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18092 do more gathering by subject.
18095 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18096 article numerical order.
18099 (gnus-thread-total-score
18100 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18104 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18107 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18108 in the summary buffer.
18111 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18112 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18115 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18116 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18117 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18118 and/or newsgroup name.
18121 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18124 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18127 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18130 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18131 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18132 will automatically get the process mark.
18135 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18136 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18137 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18140 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18144 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18145 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18148 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18149 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18153 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18154 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18157 be able to post via DejaNews.
18160 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18163 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18164 allow them to be displayed separately.
18167 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18168 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18171 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18172 articles that match a certain From header.
18175 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18176 saving living summary buffers.
18179 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18180 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18183 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18184 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18187 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18188 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18191 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18192 (goto-char (point-min))
18193 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18194 (replace-match "`" t t))
18195 (goto-char (point-min))
18196 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18197 (replace-match "'" t t))
18198 (goto-char (point-min))
18199 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18200 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18201 (goto-char (point-min))
18202 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18203 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18208 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18210 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18211 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18212 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18213 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18217 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18220 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18221 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18225 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18226 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18227 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18229 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18230 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18232 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18233 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18238 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18239 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18242 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18243 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt islette den dersom teksten matcher
18245 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18247 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18248 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18251 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18252 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18255 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18259 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18260 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18263 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18266 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18269 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18272 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18276 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18282 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18285 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18289 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18290 X characters in the body.
18293 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18296 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18299 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18302 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18305 command to display all dormant articles.
18308 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18311 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18312 to something someone else has said.
18315 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18316 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18319 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18320 the displayed version.
18323 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18327 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18330 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18331 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18332 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18336 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18337 in the head or body.
18340 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18343 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18346 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18347 in a special, unique buffer.
18350 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18353 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18354 is less than a certain number of days old.
18357 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18360 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18363 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18364 file, for instance.
18367 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18368 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
18369 dummy root instead of the first article.
18372 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18373 topics for displaying.
18376 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18377 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18380 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18383 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18384 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18385 summary buffer for each article.
18388 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18391 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18395 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18398 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18402 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18405 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18408 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18409 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18412 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18415 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18416 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18419 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18420 po:username often fails.
18423 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18425 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18428 Solve the halting problem.
18437 @section The Manual
18441 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18442 either @code{texi2dvi}
18444 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18445 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18447 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18449 The following conventions have been used:
18454 This is a @samp{string}
18457 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18460 This is a @file{file}
18463 This is a @code{symbol}
18467 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18471 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18474 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18477 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18480 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18481 ever get them confused.
18485 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18486 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18487 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18488 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18489 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18490 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18491 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18499 @section Terminology
18501 @cindex terminology
18506 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18507 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18508 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18509 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18510 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18514 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18515 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18516 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18517 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18521 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18525 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18530 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18531 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18532 is all done by the backends.
18536 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18537 default, way of getting news.
18541 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18542 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18547 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18548 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18552 A message that has been posted as news.
18555 @cindex mail message
18556 A message that has been mailed.
18560 A mail message or news article
18564 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18569 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18574 A line from the head of an article.
18578 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18579 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18583 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18584 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18585 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18586 normal @sc{head} format.
18590 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18591 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18592 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18593 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18594 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18595 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18597 @item killed groups
18598 @cindex killed groups
18599 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18600 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18602 @item zombie groups
18603 @cindex zombie groups
18604 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18607 @cindex active file
18608 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18609 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18610 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18613 @cindex bogus groups
18614 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18615 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18616 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18619 @cindex activating groups
18620 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18621 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18622 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18626 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18628 @item select method
18629 @cindex select method
18630 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18633 @item virtual server
18634 @cindex virtual server
18635 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18636 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18637 whole is a virtual server.
18641 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18642 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18645 @item ephemeral groups
18646 @cindex ephemeral groups
18647 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18648 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18649 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18652 @cindex solid groups
18653 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18654 group buffer are solid groups.
18656 @item sparse articles
18657 @cindex sparse articles
18658 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18659 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18663 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18664 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18668 @cindex thread root
18669 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18670 articles in the thread.
18674 An article that has responses.
18678 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18682 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18683 specified by RFC1153.
18689 @node Customization
18690 @section Customization
18691 @cindex general customization
18693 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18694 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18695 for some quite common situations.
18698 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18699 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18700 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18701 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18705 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18706 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18708 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18709 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18710 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18714 @item gnus-read-active-file
18715 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18716 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18717 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18718 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18719 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18721 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18722 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18723 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18724 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18728 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18729 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18731 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18732 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18733 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18737 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18738 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18739 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18740 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18741 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18743 @item gnus-visible-headers
18744 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18745 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18746 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18747 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18749 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18750 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18752 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18753 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18754 gnus-article-hide-signature
18755 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18758 @item gnus-use-full-window
18759 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18760 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18761 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18762 want to read them anyway.
18764 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18765 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18768 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18769 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18770 lines, which might save some time.
18774 @node Little Disk Space
18775 @subsection Little Disk Space
18778 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18779 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18783 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18784 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18785 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18786 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18789 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18790 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18791 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18792 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18793 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18799 @subsection Slow Machine
18800 @cindex slow machine
18802 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18803 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18805 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18806 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18808 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18809 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18810 summary buffer faster.
18812 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18813 processing a bit faster.
18817 @node Troubleshooting
18818 @section Troubleshooting
18819 @cindex troubleshooting
18821 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18829 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18832 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18833 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18837 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18838 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18839 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18840 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18843 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18847 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18848 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18849 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18850 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18851 something like that.
18854 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18857 @cindex reporting bugs
18859 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18861 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18862 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18863 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18864 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18866 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18867 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18868 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18869 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18872 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18873 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18874 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18875 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18876 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18877 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18879 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18880 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18881 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18884 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18885 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18887 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18888 @cindex ding mailing list
18889 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18890 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18894 @node Gnus Reference Guide
18895 @section Gnus Reference Guide
18897 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18898 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18899 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18900 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18903 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18904 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18905 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18906 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18907 and general methods of operation.
18910 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18911 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18912 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18913 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18914 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18915 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18916 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18917 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18918 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18922 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18923 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18924 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18925 @cindex utility functions
18927 @cindex internal variables
18929 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18930 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18931 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18935 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18936 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18937 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18939 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18940 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18941 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18943 @item gnus-group-real-name
18944 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18945 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18948 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18949 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18950 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18951 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18953 @item gnus-get-info
18954 @findex gnus-get-info
18955 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18957 @item gnus-group-unread
18958 @findex gnus-group-unread
18959 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18963 @findex gnus-active
18964 The active entry for @var{group}.
18966 @item gnus-set-active
18967 @findex gnus-set-active
18968 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18970 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18971 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18972 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18975 @item gnus-continuum-version
18976 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18977 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18978 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18981 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18982 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18983 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18985 @item gnus-news-group-p
18986 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18987 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18989 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18990 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18991 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18993 @item gnus-server-to-method
18994 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18995 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18997 @item gnus-server-equal
18998 @findex gnus-server-equal
18999 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
19001 @item gnus-group-native-p
19002 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19003 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19005 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19006 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19007 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19009 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19010 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19011 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19013 @item group-group-find-parameter
19014 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19015 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19016 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19018 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19019 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19020 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19022 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19023 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19024 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19026 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19027 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19028 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19029 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19032 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19036 @item gnus-read-method
19037 @findex gnus-read-method
19038 Prompts the user for a select method.
19043 @node Backend Interface
19044 @subsection Backend Interface
19046 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19047 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19048 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19049 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19050 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19051 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19053 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19054 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19055 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19056 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19057 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19058 been opened, the function should fail.
19060 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19061 name. Take this example:
19065 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19066 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19069 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19070 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19072 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19073 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19074 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19076 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19077 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19078 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19080 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19081 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19082 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19083 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19084 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19085 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19088 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19089 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19090 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19091 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19094 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19097 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19100 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19101 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19102 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19103 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19104 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19105 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19109 @node Required Backend Functions
19110 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19114 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19116 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19117 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19118 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19119 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19121 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19122 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19123 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19124 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19126 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19127 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19128 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19129 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19130 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19131 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19132 number, do maximum fetches.
19134 Here's an example HEAD:
19137 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19138 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19139 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19140 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19141 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19142 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19143 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19145 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19146 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19147 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19151 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19152 these in the data buffer.
19154 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19158 head = error / valid-head
19159 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19160 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19161 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19162 header = <text> eol
19165 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19166 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19170 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19171 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19172 field = <text except TAB>
19175 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19179 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19181 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19182 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19184 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19185 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19186 server. In fact, it should do so.
19188 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19189 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19192 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19194 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19195 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19198 There should be no data returned.
19201 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19203 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19204 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19205 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19206 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19208 There should be no data returned.
19211 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19213 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19214 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19215 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19216 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19218 There should be no data returned.
19221 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19223 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19225 There should be no data returned.
19228 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19230 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19231 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19232 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19233 it would be nice if that were possible.
19235 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19236 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19237 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19238 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19239 into its article buffer.
19241 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19242 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19243 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19244 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19245 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19246 on successful article retrieval.
19249 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19251 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19252 making @var{group} the current group.
19254 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19257 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19260 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19263 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19264 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19265 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19266 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19267 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19268 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19269 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19270 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19273 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19274 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19275 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19279 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19281 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19282 a no-op on most backends.
19284 There should be no data returned.
19287 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19289 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19292 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19295 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19296 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19299 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19300 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19303 active-file = *active-line
19304 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19306 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19309 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19310 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19311 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19314 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19316 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19317 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19318 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19319 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19320 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19321 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19323 There should be no result data from this function.
19328 @node Optional Backend Functions
19329 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19333 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19335 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19336 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19337 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19339 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19340 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19341 former is in the same format as the data from
19342 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19343 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19346 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19350 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19352 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19353 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19354 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19355 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19356 should return the (altered) group info.
19358 There should be no result data from this function.
19361 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19363 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19364 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19365 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19366 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19367 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19368 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19369 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19370 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19372 There should be no result data from this function.
19375 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19377 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19378 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19379 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19380 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19381 the mark information to the server.
19383 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19386 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19389 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19390 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19391 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19392 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19393 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19394 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19395 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19396 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19397 not limit itself to theese.
19399 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19400 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19401 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19402 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19404 An example action list:
19407 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19408 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19409 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19412 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19413 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19415 There should be no result data from this function.
19417 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19419 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19420 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19421 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19422 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19423 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19425 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19426 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19427 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19430 There should be no result data from this function.
19433 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19435 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19436 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19437 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19438 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19439 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19440 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19441 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19443 There should be no result data from this function.
19446 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19448 The result data from this function should be a description of
19452 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19454 description = <text>
19457 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19459 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19460 groups available on the server.
19463 description-buffer = *description-line
19467 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19469 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19470 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19471 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19474 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19476 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19478 There should be no return data.
19481 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19483 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19484 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19485 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19486 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19487 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19490 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19493 There should be no result data returned.
19496 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19499 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19500 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19502 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19503 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19504 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19505 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19506 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19507 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19509 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19510 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19513 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19514 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19516 There should be no data returned.
19519 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19521 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19522 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19523 this function in short order.
19525 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19526 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19528 There should be no data returned.
19531 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19533 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19534 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19536 There should be no data returned.
19539 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19541 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19542 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19543 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19545 There should be no data returned.
19548 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19550 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19551 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19553 There should be no data returned.
19558 @node Error Messaging
19559 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19561 @findex nnheader-report
19562 @findex nnheader-get-report
19563 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19564 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19565 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19566 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19567 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19568 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19571 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19573 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19576 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19577 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19578 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19579 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19581 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19582 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19583 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19586 @node Writing New Backends
19587 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19589 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19590 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19591 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19592 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19593 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19596 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19597 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19598 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19600 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19601 package called @code{nnoo}.
19603 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19604 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19610 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19611 parameters. For instance:
19614 (nnoo-declare nndir
19618 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19619 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19622 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19623 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19624 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19626 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19627 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19628 a function in those backends.
19631 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19632 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19633 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19636 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19637 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19638 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19640 @item nnoo-define-basics
19641 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19645 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19649 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19650 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19651 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19653 @item nnoo-map-functions
19654 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19655 functions from the parent backends.
19658 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19659 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19660 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19663 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19664 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19665 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19666 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19669 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19670 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19671 haven't already been defined.
19677 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19681 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19682 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19683 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19688 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19691 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19692 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19696 (require 'nnheader)
19700 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19702 (nnoo-declare nndir
19705 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19706 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19707 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19709 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19710 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19713 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19714 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19715 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19717 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19718 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19720 ;;; Interface functions.
19722 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19724 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19725 (setq nndir-directory
19726 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19728 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19729 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19730 (push `(nndir-current-group
19731 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19733 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19734 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19736 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19738 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19739 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19740 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19741 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19742 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19746 nnmh-status-message
19748 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19754 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19755 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19757 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19758 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19759 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19760 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19762 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19763 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19768 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19771 The abilities can be:
19775 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19777 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19779 This backend supports both mail and news.
19781 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19784 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19785 articles and groups.
19787 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19788 true for almost all backends.
19789 @item prompt-address
19790 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19791 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19792 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19796 @node Mail-like Backends
19797 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19799 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19800 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19801 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19802 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19805 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19806 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19807 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19810 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19811 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19814 This function takes four parameters.
19818 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19821 @item exit-function
19822 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19824 @item temp-directory
19825 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19828 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19829 performed for one group only.
19832 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19833 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19834 find the article number assigned to this article.
19836 The function also uses the following variables:
19837 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19838 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19839 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19840 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19844 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19845 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19849 @node Score File Syntax
19850 @subsection Score File Syntax
19852 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19853 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19854 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19856 Here's a typical score file:
19860 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19867 BNF definition of a score file:
19870 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19871 element = rule / atom
19872 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19873 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19874 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19875 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19877 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19878 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19879 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19880 date-header = "date"
19881 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19882 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19883 score = "nil" / <integer>
19884 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19885 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19886 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19887 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19888 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19889 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19890 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19891 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19892 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19893 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19894 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19895 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19896 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19897 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19898 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19899 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19900 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19901 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19902 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19903 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19904 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19905 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19906 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19907 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19908 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19909 eval = "eval" space <form>
19910 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19913 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19916 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19917 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19918 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19919 one looong line, then that's ok.
19921 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19922 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19926 @subsection Headers
19928 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19929 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19930 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19931 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19933 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19934 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19935 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19936 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19937 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19938 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19939 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19941 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19942 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19943 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
19944 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19945 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19947 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
19948 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
19954 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19955 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19957 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19958 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19959 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19960 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19962 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19966 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19969 is transformed into
19972 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19975 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19976 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19979 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19982 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19983 is slightly tricky:
19986 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19992 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19995 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
20001 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20008 and is equal to the previous range.
20010 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20011 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20012 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20016 range = simple-range / normal-range
20017 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20018 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20019 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20020 number *[ " " contents ]
20023 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20024 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20025 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20026 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20027 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20032 @subsection Group Info
20034 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20035 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20036 describes the group.
20038 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20039 second is a more complex one:
20042 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20044 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20045 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20047 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20050 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20051 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20052 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20053 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20054 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20055 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20056 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20057 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20058 this section is about.
20060 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20061 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20062 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20064 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20067 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20068 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20069 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20070 group = quote <string> quote
20071 ralevel = rank / level
20072 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20073 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20074 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20076 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20077 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20078 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20079 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20082 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20083 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20086 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20087 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20090 @item gnus-info-group
20091 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20092 @findex gnus-info-group
20093 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20094 Get/set the group name.
20096 @item gnus-info-rank
20097 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20098 @findex gnus-info-rank
20099 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20100 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20102 @item gnus-info-level
20103 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20104 @findex gnus-info-level
20105 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20106 Get/set the group level.
20108 @item gnus-info-score
20109 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20110 @findex gnus-info-score
20111 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20112 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20114 @item gnus-info-read
20115 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20116 @findex gnus-info-read
20117 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20118 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20120 @item gnus-info-marks
20121 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20122 @findex gnus-info-marks
20123 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20124 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20126 @item gnus-info-method
20127 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20128 @findex gnus-info-method
20129 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20130 Get/set the group select method.
20132 @item gnus-info-params
20133 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20134 @findex gnus-info-params
20135 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20136 Get/set the group parameters.
20139 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20140 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20142 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20143 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20144 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20145 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20148 @node Extended Interactive
20149 @subsection Extended Interactive
20150 @cindex interactive
20151 @findex gnus-interactive
20153 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20154 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20155 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20158 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20159 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20164 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20165 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20166 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20167 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20168 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20169 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20170 @code{interactive}.
20172 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20177 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20178 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20182 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20183 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20184 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20187 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20191 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20195 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20201 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20202 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20206 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20207 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20208 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20210 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20211 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20212 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20213 Gnus, that's very useful.
20215 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20216 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20217 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20218 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20219 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20220 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20221 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20222 following function:
20225 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20229 (,function ,@@args))
20233 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20234 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20235 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20238 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20239 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20240 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20242 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20243 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20244 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20247 @node Various File Formats
20248 @subsection Various File Formats
20251 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20252 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20256 @node Active File Format
20257 @subsubsection Active File Format
20259 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20260 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20263 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20266 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20267 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20268 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20269 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20270 no.general 1000 900 y
20273 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20276 active = *group-line
20277 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20278 group = <non-white-space string>
20280 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20281 low-number = <positive integer>
20282 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20285 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20286 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20289 @node Newsgroups File Format
20290 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20292 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20293 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20294 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20297 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20298 Here's the definition:
20302 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20303 group = <non-white-space string>
20305 description = <string>
20310 @node Emacs for Heathens
20311 @section Emacs for Heathens
20313 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20314 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20315 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20316 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20317 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20318 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20319 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20323 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20324 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20329 @subsection Keystrokes
20333 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20336 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20339 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20340 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20341 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20342 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20343 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20344 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20346 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20347 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20348 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20349 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20350 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20351 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20352 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20354 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20355 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20356 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20357 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20358 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20359 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20360 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20362 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20363 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20364 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20365 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20366 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20372 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20374 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20375 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20376 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20377 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20379 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20380 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20381 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20382 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20383 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20384 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20385 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20388 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20389 write the following:
20392 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20395 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20396 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20397 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20400 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20401 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20402 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20403 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20404 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20406 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20407 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20408 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20412 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20416 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20419 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20420 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20423 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20426 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20427 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20430 @include gnus-faq.texi