4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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282 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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291 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
293 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
297 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
298 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
299 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
300 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
301 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
302 License'' in the Emacs manual.
304 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
305 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
306 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
308 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
309 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
310 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
311 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
319 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
321 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
322 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
324 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
325 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
326 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
327 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
328 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
329 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
330 License'' in the Emacs manual.
332 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
333 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
334 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
336 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
337 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
338 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
339 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
345 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
347 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
350 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
351 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
353 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
355 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
356 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
357 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
358 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
359 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
360 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
361 License'' in the Emacs manual.
363 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
364 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
365 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
367 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
368 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
369 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
370 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
379 @top The gnus Newsreader
383 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
384 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
385 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
388 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
389 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
390 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
391 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
392 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
393 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
395 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
406 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
407 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
409 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
410 being accused of plagiarism:
412 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
413 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
414 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
415 can even read news with it!
417 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
418 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
419 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
420 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
421 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
427 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
428 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
429 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
430 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
431 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
432 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
433 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
434 * Various:: General purpose settings.
435 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
436 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
437 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
438 * Key Index:: Key Index.
440 Other related manuals
442 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
443 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
444 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
445 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
448 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
452 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
453 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
454 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
455 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
456 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
457 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
458 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
459 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
460 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
461 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
462 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
466 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
467 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
468 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
472 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
473 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
474 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
475 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
476 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
477 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
478 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
479 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
480 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
481 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
482 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
483 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
484 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
485 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
486 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
487 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
488 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
492 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
493 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
494 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
498 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
499 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
500 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
501 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
502 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
506 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
507 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
508 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
509 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
510 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
514 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
515 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
516 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
517 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
518 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
519 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
520 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
521 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
522 * Threading:: How threads are made.
523 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
524 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
525 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
526 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
527 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
528 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
529 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
530 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
531 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
532 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
533 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
534 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
535 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
536 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
537 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
538 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
539 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
540 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
541 or reselecting the current group.
542 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
543 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
544 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
545 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
547 Summary Buffer Format
549 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
550 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
551 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
552 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
556 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
557 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
559 Reply, Followup and Post
561 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
562 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
563 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
564 * Canceling and Superseding::
568 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
569 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
570 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
572 * Generic Marking Commands::
573 * Setting Process Marks::
577 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
578 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
579 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
583 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
584 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
586 Customizing Threading
588 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
589 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
590 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
591 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
595 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
596 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
597 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
598 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
599 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
600 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
604 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
605 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
606 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
610 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
611 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
612 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
613 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
614 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
615 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
616 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
617 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
618 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
619 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
621 Alternative Approaches
623 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
624 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
626 Various Summary Stuff
628 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
629 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
630 * Summary Generation Commands::
631 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
635 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
636 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
637 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
638 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
639 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
643 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
644 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
645 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
646 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
647 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
648 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
649 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
650 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
654 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
655 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
656 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
657 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
658 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
659 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
660 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
661 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
665 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
666 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
667 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
668 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
669 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
670 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
671 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
675 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
676 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
680 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
681 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
682 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
686 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
687 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
688 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
689 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
690 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
691 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
692 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
693 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
694 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
695 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
696 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
697 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
698 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
702 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
703 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
704 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
706 Choosing a Mail Back End
708 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
709 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
710 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
711 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
712 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
713 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
718 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
719 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
720 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
721 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
722 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
723 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
727 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
728 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
729 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
730 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
731 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
735 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
736 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
737 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
738 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
739 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
743 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
747 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
748 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
749 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
753 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
754 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
758 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
759 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
760 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
761 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
762 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
763 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
764 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
765 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
766 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
767 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
768 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
769 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
773 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
774 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
775 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
779 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
780 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
781 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
785 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
786 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
787 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
788 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
789 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
790 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
791 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
792 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
793 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
794 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
795 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
796 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
797 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
798 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
799 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
800 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
801 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
805 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
806 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
807 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
808 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
812 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
813 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
814 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
818 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
819 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
820 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
821 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
822 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
823 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
824 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
825 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
826 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
827 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
828 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
829 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
830 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
831 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
832 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
833 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
834 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
835 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
836 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
840 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
841 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
842 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
843 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
844 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
845 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
846 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
847 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
851 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
852 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
853 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
854 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
858 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
859 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
860 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
861 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
862 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
863 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
867 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
868 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
869 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
870 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
871 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
872 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
873 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
874 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
875 * Frequently Asked Questions::
879 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
880 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
881 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
882 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
883 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
884 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
885 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
886 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
887 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
891 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
892 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
893 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
894 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
895 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
899 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
900 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
901 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
902 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
906 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
907 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
908 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
909 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
910 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
911 * Group Info:: The group info format.
912 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
913 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
914 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
918 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
919 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
920 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
921 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
922 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
923 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
927 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
928 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
932 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
933 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
939 @chapter Starting gnus
944 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
945 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
948 @findex gnus-other-frame
949 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
950 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
951 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
953 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
954 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
955 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
957 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
958 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
961 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
962 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
963 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
964 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
965 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
966 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
967 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
968 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
969 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
970 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
971 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
975 @node Finding the News
976 @section Finding the News
979 @vindex gnus-select-method
981 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
982 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
983 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
984 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
987 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
988 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
991 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
994 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
997 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1000 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1001 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1002 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1004 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1006 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1007 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1008 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1009 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1010 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1011 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1013 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1014 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1015 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1016 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1018 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1019 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1020 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1021 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1022 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1023 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1024 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1025 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1026 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1029 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1031 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1032 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1033 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1034 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1035 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1036 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1038 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1040 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1041 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1042 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1043 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1044 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1045 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1048 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1049 you would typically set this variable to
1052 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1056 @node The First Time
1057 @section The First Time
1058 @cindex first time usage
1060 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1061 be subscribed by default.
1063 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1064 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1065 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1066 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1069 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1070 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1071 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1073 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1074 help you with most common problems.
1076 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1077 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1081 @node The Server is Down
1082 @section The Server is Down
1083 @cindex server errors
1085 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1086 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1087 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1089 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1090 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1091 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1092 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1093 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1094 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1095 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1097 @findex gnus-no-server
1098 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1100 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1101 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1102 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1103 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1104 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1105 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1106 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1110 @section Slave Gnusae
1113 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1114 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1115 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1116 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1118 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1119 @file{.newsrc} file.
1121 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1122 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1123 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1124 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1125 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1126 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1127 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1130 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1131 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1132 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1133 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1134 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1135 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1136 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1137 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1139 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1140 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1142 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1143 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1144 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1145 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1146 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1148 @node Fetching a Group
1149 @section Fetching a Group
1150 @cindex fetching a group
1152 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1153 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1154 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1155 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1156 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1157 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1163 @cindex subscription
1165 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1166 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1167 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1168 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1169 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1170 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1171 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1172 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1173 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1176 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1177 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1178 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1182 @node Checking New Groups
1183 @subsection Checking New Groups
1185 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1186 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1187 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1188 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1189 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1190 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1191 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1192 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1193 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1194 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1196 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1197 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1198 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1199 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1200 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1201 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1202 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1203 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1204 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1205 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1206 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1208 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1209 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1210 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1211 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1212 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1213 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1216 @node Subscription Methods
1217 @subsection Subscription Methods
1219 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1220 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1221 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1223 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1224 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1226 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1232 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1233 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1234 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1236 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1237 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1238 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1239 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1241 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1242 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1243 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1245 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1246 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1247 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1248 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1249 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1250 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1251 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1252 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1253 up. Or something like that.
1255 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1257 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1258 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1259 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1263 Kill all new groups.
1265 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1266 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1267 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1268 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1269 topic parameter that looks like
1275 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1278 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1283 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1284 A closely related variable is
1285 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1286 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1287 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1288 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1291 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1292 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1293 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1294 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1297 @node Filtering New Groups
1298 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1300 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1301 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1302 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1305 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1308 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1309 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1310 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1311 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1312 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1313 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1314 subscribing these groups.
1315 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1316 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1318 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1319 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1320 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1321 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1322 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1323 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1324 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1325 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1327 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1328 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1329 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1330 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1331 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1332 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1333 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1334 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1335 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1336 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1339 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1340 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1343 @node Changing Servers
1344 @section Changing Servers
1345 @cindex changing servers
1347 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1348 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1349 very flaky and you want to use another.
1351 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1352 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1356 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1357 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1358 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1359 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1362 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1363 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1364 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1365 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1367 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1368 @findex gnus-change-server
1369 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1370 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1371 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1372 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1373 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1375 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1376 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1377 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1378 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1379 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1381 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1382 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1383 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1384 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1385 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1386 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1388 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1389 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1390 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1391 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1393 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1394 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1395 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1396 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1397 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1398 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1399 cache for all groups).
1403 @section Startup Files
1404 @cindex startup files
1409 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1410 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1412 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1413 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1414 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1415 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1416 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1417 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1418 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1420 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1421 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1422 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1423 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1424 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1425 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1427 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1428 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1429 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1430 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1431 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1432 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1433 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1434 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1435 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1436 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1438 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1439 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1440 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1441 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1442 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1443 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1444 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1445 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1446 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1447 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1448 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1449 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1451 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1452 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1453 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1454 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1456 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1457 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1458 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1459 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1460 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1461 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1462 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1463 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1464 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1465 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1468 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1469 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1471 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1472 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1475 @vindex gnus-init-file
1476 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1477 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1478 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1479 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1480 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1481 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1482 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1483 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1484 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1485 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1491 @cindex dribble file
1494 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1495 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1496 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1497 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1498 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1501 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1502 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1505 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1506 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1507 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1509 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1510 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1511 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1512 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1513 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1514 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1516 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1517 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1518 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1521 @node The Active File
1522 @section The Active File
1524 @cindex ignored groups
1526 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1527 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1528 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1530 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1531 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1532 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1533 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1534 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1535 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1536 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1539 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1540 @c if you set it to anything else.
1542 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1544 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1545 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1546 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1548 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1549 you actually subscribe to.
1551 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1552 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1553 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1554 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1556 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1557 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1558 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1559 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1560 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1561 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1563 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1564 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1565 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1568 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1569 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1570 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1571 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1572 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1573 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1575 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1576 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1578 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1579 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1581 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1582 secondary select methods.
1585 @node Startup Variables
1586 @section Startup Variables
1590 @item gnus-load-hook
1591 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1592 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1593 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1594 times you start gnus.
1596 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1597 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1598 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1600 @item gnus-startup-hook
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1602 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1604 @item gnus-started-hook
1605 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1606 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1609 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1610 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1611 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1612 generating the group buffer.
1614 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1615 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1616 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1617 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1618 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1619 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1620 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1621 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1623 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1624 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1625 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1626 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1627 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1628 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1630 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1631 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1632 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1634 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1635 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1636 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1638 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1639 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1640 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1641 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1647 @chapter Group Buffer
1648 @cindex group buffer
1650 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1652 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1653 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1654 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1655 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1656 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1657 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1658 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1659 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1660 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1661 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1662 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1663 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1664 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1665 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1666 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1667 @c human rights at 9...
1670 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1671 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1672 long as gnus is active.
1676 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1677 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1678 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1679 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1680 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1681 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1682 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1683 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1689 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1690 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1691 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1692 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1693 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1694 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1695 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1696 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1697 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1698 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1699 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1700 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1701 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1702 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1703 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1704 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1705 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1709 @node Group Buffer Format
1710 @section Group Buffer Format
1713 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1714 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1715 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1719 @node Group Line Specification
1720 @subsection Group Line Specification
1721 @cindex group buffer format
1723 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1724 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1726 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1729 25: news.announce.newusers
1730 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1735 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1736 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1737 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1738 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1740 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1741 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1742 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1743 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1744 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1745 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1747 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1749 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1750 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1751 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1752 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1753 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1755 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1756 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1757 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1759 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1764 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1767 Whether the group is subscribed.
1770 Level of subscribedness.
1773 Number of unread articles.
1776 Number of dormant articles.
1779 Number of ticked articles.
1782 Number of read articles.
1785 Number of unseen articles.
1788 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1789 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1791 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1792 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1793 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1794 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1795 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1796 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1797 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1798 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1801 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1804 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1813 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1814 comment element in the group parameters.
1817 Newsgroup description.
1820 @samp{m} if moderated.
1823 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1829 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1835 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1839 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1842 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1843 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1844 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1845 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1846 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1849 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1851 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1855 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1858 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1862 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1863 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1864 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1865 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1866 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1867 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1872 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1873 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1874 group, or a bogus native group.
1877 @node Group Modeline Specification
1878 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1879 @cindex group modeline
1881 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1882 The mode line can be changed by setting
1883 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1884 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1888 The native news server.
1890 The native select method.
1894 @node Group Highlighting
1895 @subsection Group Highlighting
1896 @cindex highlighting
1897 @cindex group highlighting
1899 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1900 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1901 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1902 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1903 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1905 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1909 (cond (window-system
1910 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1911 (defface my-group-face-1
1912 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1913 (defface my-group-face-2
1914 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1915 (defface my-group-face-3
1916 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1917 (defface my-group-face-4
1918 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1919 (defface my-group-face-5
1920 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1922 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1923 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1924 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1925 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1926 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1927 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1930 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1932 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1939 The number of unread articles in the group.
1943 Whether the group is a mail group.
1945 The level of the group.
1947 The score of the group.
1949 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1951 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1952 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1954 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1955 topic being inserted.
1958 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1959 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1960 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1962 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1963 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1964 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1965 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1966 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1969 @node Group Maneuvering
1970 @section Group Maneuvering
1971 @cindex group movement
1973 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1974 expected, hopefully.
1980 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1981 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1982 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1988 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1989 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1990 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1995 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1999 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2000 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2004 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2005 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2006 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2011 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2012 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2015 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2021 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2022 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2023 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2028 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2029 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2030 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2035 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2036 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2039 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2040 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2041 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2042 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2046 @node Selecting a Group
2047 @section Selecting a Group
2048 @cindex group selection
2053 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2055 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2056 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2057 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2058 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2059 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2060 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2061 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2062 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2064 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2065 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2066 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2068 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2069 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2074 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2075 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2076 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2077 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2078 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2082 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2083 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2084 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2085 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2086 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2087 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2088 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2089 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2090 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2091 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2094 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2096 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2097 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2098 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2101 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2102 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2103 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2104 doing any processing of its contents
2105 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2106 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2107 manner will have no permanent effects.
2111 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2112 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2113 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2114 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2115 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2116 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2117 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2118 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2121 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2122 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2123 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2124 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2125 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2126 Which article this is is controlled by the
2127 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2133 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2136 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2139 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2141 @item unseen-or-unread
2142 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2143 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2147 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2151 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2152 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2154 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2155 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2156 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2157 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2161 @node Subscription Commands
2162 @section Subscription Commands
2163 @cindex subscription
2171 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2172 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2173 Toggle subscription to the current group
2174 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2180 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2181 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2182 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2183 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2189 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2191 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2197 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2198 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2201 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2202 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2203 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2204 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2205 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2211 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2212 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2216 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2217 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2220 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2221 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2222 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2223 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2224 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2225 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2226 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2227 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2228 @file{.newsrc} file.
2232 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2242 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2243 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2244 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2245 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2246 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2247 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2252 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2253 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2254 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2258 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2259 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2260 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2262 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2263 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2264 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2265 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2266 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2267 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2274 @section Group Levels
2278 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2279 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2280 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2281 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2282 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2284 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2290 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2291 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2292 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2293 prompted for a level.
2296 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2297 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2298 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2299 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2300 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2301 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2302 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2303 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2304 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2305 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2306 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2307 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2308 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2309 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2310 reasons of efficiency.
2312 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2313 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2315 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2316 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2317 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2318 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2319 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2320 groups are hidden, in a way.
2322 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2323 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2324 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2325 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2326 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2327 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2329 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2330 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2331 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2332 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2333 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2334 list of killed groups.)
2336 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2337 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2338 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2340 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2341 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2342 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2343 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2344 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2345 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2346 relevant valid ranges.
2348 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2349 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2350 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2351 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2352 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2353 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2356 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2357 one with the best level.
2359 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2360 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2361 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2364 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2365 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2366 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2367 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2370 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2371 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2372 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2373 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2375 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2376 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2377 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2378 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2379 to 5. The default is 6.
2383 @section Group Score
2388 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2389 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2390 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2393 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2394 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2395 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2396 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2397 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2398 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2399 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2400 least significant part.))
2402 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2403 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2404 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2405 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2406 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2407 action after each summary exit, you can add
2408 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2409 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2410 slow things down somewhat.
2413 @node Marking Groups
2414 @section Marking Groups
2415 @cindex marking groups
2417 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2418 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2419 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2420 bidding on those groups.
2422 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2423 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2424 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2432 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2433 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2440 Remove the mark from the current group
2441 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2445 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2446 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2451 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2455 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2456 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2460 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2461 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2462 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2465 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2467 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2468 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2469 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2470 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2471 the command to be executed.
2474 @node Foreign Groups
2475 @section Foreign Groups
2476 @cindex foreign groups
2478 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2479 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2480 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2481 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2488 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2489 @cindex making groups
2490 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2491 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2492 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2496 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2497 @cindex renaming groups
2498 Rename the current group to something else
2499 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2500 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2506 @findex gnus-group-customize
2507 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2511 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2512 @cindex renaming groups
2513 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2514 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2518 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2519 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2520 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2524 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2525 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2526 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2532 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2533 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2538 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2539 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2543 @cindex (ding) archive
2544 @cindex archive group
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2546 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2547 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2548 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2549 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2550 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2551 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2555 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2557 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2558 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2559 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2560 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2564 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2566 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2567 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2568 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2572 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2573 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2575 Make a group based on some file or other
2576 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2577 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2578 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2579 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2580 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2581 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2582 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2583 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2584 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2588 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2589 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2590 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2591 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2599 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2600 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2601 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2602 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2603 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2604 @xref{Web Searches}.
2606 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2607 to a particular group by using a match string like
2608 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2611 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2612 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2613 This function will delete the current group
2614 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2615 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2616 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2617 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2618 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2622 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2623 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2624 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2628 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2629 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2630 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2633 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2636 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2637 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2638 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2639 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2640 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2641 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2645 @node Group Parameters
2646 @section Group Parameters
2647 @cindex group parameters
2649 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2650 Here's an example group parameter list:
2653 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2657 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2658 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2659 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2660 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2662 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2663 is an alist of regexps and values.
2665 The following group parameters can be used:
2670 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2673 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2676 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2677 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2678 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2679 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2680 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2682 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2683 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2684 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2685 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2686 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2687 list address instead.
2689 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2693 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2696 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2699 It is totally ignored
2700 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2701 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2703 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2704 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2705 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2706 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2707 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2709 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2710 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2711 sending the message.
2713 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2714 @cindex Mail List Groups
2715 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2716 entering summary buffer.
2718 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2723 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2724 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2725 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2726 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2727 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2728 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2730 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2731 directly uses this group parameter.
2735 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2736 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2737 of whether it has any unread articles.
2739 @item broken-reply-to
2740 @cindex broken-reply-to
2741 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2742 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2743 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2744 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2745 broken behavior. So there!
2749 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2750 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2754 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2755 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2756 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2761 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2762 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2763 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2764 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2765 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2766 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2767 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2768 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2769 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2773 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2774 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2775 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2777 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2780 @cindex total-expire
2781 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2782 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2783 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2784 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2787 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2791 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2792 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2793 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2794 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2795 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2796 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2797 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2800 @cindex score file group parameter
2801 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2802 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2803 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2806 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2807 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2808 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2809 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2812 @cindex admin-address
2813 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2814 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2815 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2816 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2820 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2821 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2825 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2828 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2829 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2832 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2836 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2838 Here are some examples:
2842 Display only unread articles.
2845 Display everything except expirable articles.
2847 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2848 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2852 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2853 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2854 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2855 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2856 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2860 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2861 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2862 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2866 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2867 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2868 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2872 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2873 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2874 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2876 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2878 @item ignored-charsets
2879 @cindex ignored-charset
2880 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2881 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2882 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2884 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2887 @cindex posting-style
2888 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2889 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2890 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2891 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2892 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2894 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2895 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2896 like this in the group parameters:
2901 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2902 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2907 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2908 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2912 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2913 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2914 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2915 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2916 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2920 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2921 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2922 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2923 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2925 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2926 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2927 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2928 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2931 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2932 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2936 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2939 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2940 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2941 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2942 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2943 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2944 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2945 @code{eval}ed there.
2947 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2948 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2949 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2950 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2951 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2952 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2953 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2954 parameters for the group.
2957 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2958 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2959 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2960 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2961 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2965 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2966 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2967 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2968 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2969 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2971 @vindex gnus-parameters
2972 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2973 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2977 (setq gnus-parameters
2979 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2980 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2981 (gnus-summary-line-format
2982 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2986 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2990 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2994 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2997 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2998 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3001 @node Listing Groups
3002 @section Listing Groups
3003 @cindex group listing
3005 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3014 List all groups that have unread articles
3015 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3016 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3017 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3018 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3025 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3026 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3027 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3028 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3029 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3030 unsubscribed groups).
3034 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3035 List all unread groups on a specific level
3036 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3037 with no unread articles.
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3042 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3043 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3044 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3049 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3050 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3054 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3055 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3056 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3060 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3061 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3065 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3066 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3067 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3068 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3069 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3070 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3071 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3072 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3076 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3077 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3078 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3082 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3083 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3084 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3088 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3089 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3093 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3094 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3098 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3099 List groups limited within the current selection
3100 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3104 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3105 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3109 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3110 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3114 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3115 @cindex visible group parameter
3116 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3117 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3118 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3119 get the same effect.
3121 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3122 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3123 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3124 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3125 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3128 @node Sorting Groups
3129 @section Sorting Groups
3130 @cindex sorting groups
3132 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3134 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3135 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3136 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3137 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3142 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3143 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3144 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3146 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3147 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3148 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3150 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3151 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3152 Sort by group level.
3154 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3155 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3156 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3158 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3159 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3160 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3161 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3163 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3164 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3165 Sort by number of unread articles.
3167 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3169 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3171 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3172 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3173 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3178 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3179 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3183 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3184 some sorting criteria:
3188 @kindex G S a (Group)
3189 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3190 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3191 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3194 @kindex G S u (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3196 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3197 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3200 @kindex G S l (Group)
3201 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3202 Sort the group buffer by group level
3203 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3206 @kindex G S v (Group)
3207 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3208 Sort the group buffer by group score
3209 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3212 @kindex G S r (Group)
3213 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3214 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3215 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3218 @kindex G S m (Group)
3219 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3220 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3221 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3224 @kindex G S n (Group)
3225 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3226 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3227 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3231 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3232 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3234 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3235 commands will sort in reverse order.
3237 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3241 @kindex G P a (Group)
3242 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3243 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3244 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3247 @kindex G P u (Group)
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3249 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3250 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3253 @kindex G P l (Group)
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3255 Sort the groups by group level
3256 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3259 @kindex G P v (Group)
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3261 Sort the groups by group score
3262 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3265 @kindex G P r (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3267 Sort the groups by group rank
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3271 @kindex G P m (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3273 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3274 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3277 @kindex G P n (Group)
3278 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3279 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3280 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3283 @kindex G P s (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3285 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3289 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3293 @node Group Maintenance
3294 @section Group Maintenance
3295 @cindex bogus groups
3300 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3301 Find bogus groups and delete them
3302 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3306 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3307 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3308 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3309 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3310 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3314 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3315 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3316 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3317 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3318 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3319 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3322 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3323 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3324 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3325 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3330 @node Browse Foreign Server
3331 @section Browse Foreign Server
3332 @cindex foreign servers
3333 @cindex browsing servers
3338 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3339 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3340 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3341 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3344 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3345 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3346 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3347 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3349 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3354 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3355 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3359 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3360 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3363 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3364 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3365 Enter the current group and display the first article
3366 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3369 @kindex RET (Browse)
3370 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3371 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3375 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3376 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3377 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3383 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3384 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3388 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3389 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3393 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3394 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3395 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3400 @section Exiting gnus
3401 @cindex exiting gnus
3403 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3408 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3409 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3410 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3411 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3415 @findex gnus-group-exit
3416 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3417 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3421 @findex gnus-group-quit
3422 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3423 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3426 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3427 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3428 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3429 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3430 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3431 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3436 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3437 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3438 trying to customize meta-variables.
3443 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3444 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3445 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3451 @section Group Topics
3454 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3455 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3456 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3457 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3458 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3459 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3463 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3464 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3475 2: alt.religion.emacs
3478 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3480 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3481 13: comp.sources.unix
3484 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3486 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3487 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3488 is a toggling command.)
3490 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3491 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3492 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3493 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3496 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3497 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3498 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3501 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3505 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3506 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3507 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3508 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3509 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3513 @node Topic Commands
3514 @subsection Topic Commands
3515 @cindex topic commands
3517 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3518 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3519 definitions slightly.
3521 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3522 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3523 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3524 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3525 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3526 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3528 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3535 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3536 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3537 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3541 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3543 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3544 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3545 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3546 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3549 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3550 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3551 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3552 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3556 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3557 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3558 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3559 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3565 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3566 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3567 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3571 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3572 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3573 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3576 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3577 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3578 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3579 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3580 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3582 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3583 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3587 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3588 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3595 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3597 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3598 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3599 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3600 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3601 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3602 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3606 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3612 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3613 Move the current group to some other topic
3614 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3615 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3619 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3620 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3624 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3625 Copy the current group to some other topic
3626 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3627 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3632 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3633 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3637 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3638 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3639 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3643 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3644 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3645 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3646 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3647 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3648 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3649 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3652 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3653 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3657 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3658 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3659 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3663 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3664 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3665 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3669 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3670 Toggle hiding empty topics
3671 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3675 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3676 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3680 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3681 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3682 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3683 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3686 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3687 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3688 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3689 expiry process (if any)
3690 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3694 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3695 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3698 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3699 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3700 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3704 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3705 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3706 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3709 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3710 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3711 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3714 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3715 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3716 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3720 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3721 @cindex group parameters
3722 @cindex topic parameters
3724 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3725 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3730 @node Topic Variables
3731 @subsection Topic Variables
3732 @cindex topic variables
3734 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3735 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3737 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3738 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3739 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3752 Number of groups in the topic.
3754 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3756 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3759 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3760 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3761 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3764 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3765 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3767 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3768 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3769 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3773 @subsection Topic Sorting
3774 @cindex topic sorting
3776 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3782 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3783 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3784 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3785 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3788 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3789 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3790 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3791 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3794 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3795 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3796 Sort the current topic by group level
3797 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3800 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3801 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3802 Sort the current topic by group score
3803 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3806 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3807 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3808 Sort the current topic by group rank
3809 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3812 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3813 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3814 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3818 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3819 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3820 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3821 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3825 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3826 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3827 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3828 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3832 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3833 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3837 @node Topic Topology
3838 @subsection Topic Topology
3839 @cindex topic topology
3842 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3848 2: alt.religion.emacs
3851 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3853 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3854 13: comp.sources.unix
3857 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3858 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3859 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3864 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3865 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3869 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3870 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3871 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3872 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3873 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3874 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3876 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3877 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3878 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3881 @node Topic Parameters
3882 @subsection Topic Parameters
3883 @cindex topic parameters
3885 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3886 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3887 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3889 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3894 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3895 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3896 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3899 @item subscribe-level
3900 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3901 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3902 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3906 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3907 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3908 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3909 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3915 2: alt.religion.emacs
3919 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3921 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3922 13: comp.sources.unix
3926 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3927 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3928 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3929 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3930 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3931 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3933 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3934 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3935 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3936 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3937 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3939 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3940 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3941 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3942 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3943 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3944 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3945 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3946 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3949 @node Misc Group Stuff
3950 @section Misc Group Stuff
3953 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3954 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3955 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3956 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3957 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3964 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3965 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3966 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3970 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3971 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3972 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3973 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3974 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3975 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3976 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3980 @findex gnus-group-mail
3981 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3982 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3983 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3984 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3988 @findex gnus-group-news
3989 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3990 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3991 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3993 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3994 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3995 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3996 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3997 for this to work though.
4001 Variables for the group buffer:
4005 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4006 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4007 is called after the group buffer has been
4010 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4011 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4012 is called after the group buffer is
4013 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4016 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4017 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4018 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4019 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4021 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4022 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4023 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4024 whether they are empty or not.
4026 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4027 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4028 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4029 non-ASCII group names.
4033 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4034 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4037 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4038 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4039 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4040 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4041 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4042 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4047 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4048 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4053 @node Scanning New Messages
4054 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4055 @cindex new messages
4056 @cindex scanning new news
4062 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4063 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4064 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4065 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4066 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4067 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4072 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4073 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4074 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4075 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4076 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4077 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4078 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4080 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4081 @cindex activating groups
4083 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4084 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4089 @findex gnus-group-restart
4090 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4091 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4092 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4096 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4097 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4099 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4100 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4104 @node Group Information
4105 @subsection Group Information
4106 @cindex group information
4107 @cindex information on groups
4114 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4115 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4118 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4119 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4120 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4121 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4122 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4123 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4124 for fetching the file.
4126 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4127 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4131 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4132 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4134 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4135 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4138 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4139 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4140 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4144 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4145 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4146 @cindex control message
4147 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4148 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4149 group if given a prefix argument.
4151 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4152 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4153 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4154 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4156 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4157 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4158 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4162 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4164 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4165 @cindex describing groups
4166 @cindex group description
4167 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4168 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4169 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4173 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4174 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4175 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4182 @findex gnus-version
4183 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4187 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4188 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4191 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4194 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4195 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4199 @node Group Timestamp
4200 @subsection Group Timestamp
4202 @cindex group timestamps
4204 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4205 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4206 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4209 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4212 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4214 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4215 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4218 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4219 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4222 This will result in lines looking like:
4225 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4226 0: custom 19961002T012713
4229 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4230 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4234 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4235 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4238 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4239 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4243 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4244 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4245 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4246 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4248 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4254 @subsection File Commands
4255 @cindex file commands
4261 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4262 @vindex gnus-init-file
4263 @cindex reading init file
4264 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4265 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4269 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4270 @cindex saving .newsrc
4271 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4272 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4273 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4276 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4277 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4278 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4283 @node Sieve Commands
4284 @subsection Sieve Commands
4285 @cindex group sieve commands
4287 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4288 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4289 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4290 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4291 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4293 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4294 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4295 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4296 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4297 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4298 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4299 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4300 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4301 regenerate the Sieve script.
4303 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4304 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4305 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4306 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4307 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4308 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4309 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4310 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4311 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4312 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4315 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4316 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4321 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4327 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4328 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4329 @cindex generating sieve script
4330 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4331 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4335 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4336 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4337 @cindex updating sieve script
4338 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4339 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4340 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4345 @node Summary Buffer
4346 @chapter Summary Buffer
4347 @cindex summary buffer
4349 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4350 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4352 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4353 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4355 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4358 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4359 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4360 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4361 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4362 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4363 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4364 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4365 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4366 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4367 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4368 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4369 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4370 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4371 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4372 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4373 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4374 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4375 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4376 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4377 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4378 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4379 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4380 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4381 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4382 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4383 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4384 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4385 or reselecting the current group.
4386 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4387 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4388 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4389 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4393 @node Summary Buffer Format
4394 @section Summary Buffer Format
4395 @cindex summary buffer format
4399 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4400 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4401 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4407 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4408 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4409 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4410 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4413 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4414 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4415 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4416 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4417 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4418 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4419 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4420 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4421 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4422 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4423 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4424 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4425 other function instead:
4428 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4429 'mail-extract-address-components)
4432 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4433 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4434 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4435 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4438 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4439 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4441 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4442 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4443 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4444 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4445 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4447 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4448 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4449 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4450 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4451 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4452 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4454 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4456 The following format specification characters and extended format
4457 specification(s) are understood:
4463 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4464 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4466 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4467 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4468 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4470 Full @code{From} header.
4472 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4474 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4477 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4478 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4479 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4480 may be more thorough.
4482 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4485 Number of lines in the article.
4487 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4488 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4490 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4491 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4493 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4495 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4496 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4509 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4510 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4511 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4514 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4515 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4516 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4517 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4519 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4520 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4521 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4522 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4524 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4525 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4526 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4528 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4529 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4530 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4532 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4533 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4534 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4536 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4537 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4538 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4543 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4544 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4546 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4547 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4549 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4550 for adopted articles.
4552 One space for each thread level.
4554 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4556 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4559 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4560 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4561 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4564 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4566 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4567 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4568 default level. If the difference between
4569 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4570 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4578 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4580 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4586 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4587 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4589 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4590 article has any children.
4596 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4597 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4599 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4600 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4601 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4602 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4603 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4604 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4607 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4608 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4609 There can only be one such area.
4611 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4612 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4613 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4614 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4615 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4616 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4618 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4619 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4621 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4624 @node To From Newsgroups
4625 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4629 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4630 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4631 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4632 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4633 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4637 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4638 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4639 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4643 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4644 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4647 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4648 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4651 @findex gnus-extra-header
4652 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4653 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4654 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4657 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4661 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4662 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4663 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4664 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4665 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4666 headers are used instead.
4670 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4671 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4672 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4673 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4674 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4675 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4677 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4678 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4679 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4680 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4682 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4686 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4688 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4689 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4690 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4691 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4695 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4698 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4699 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4702 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4703 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4704 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4710 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4711 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4714 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4715 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4717 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4718 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4719 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4720 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4722 Here are the elements you can play with:
4728 Unprefixed group name.
4730 Current article number.
4732 Current article score.
4736 Number of unread articles in this group.
4738 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4741 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4742 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4743 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4744 and no unselected ones.
4746 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4747 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4749 Subject of the current article.
4751 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4753 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4755 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4757 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4759 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4761 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4765 @node Summary Highlighting
4766 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4770 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4771 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4772 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4773 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4774 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4776 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4777 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4778 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4779 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4781 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4782 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4783 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4784 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4786 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4787 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4788 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4789 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4790 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4791 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4794 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4795 ((> score default) . bold))
4797 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4798 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4802 @node Summary Maneuvering
4803 @section Summary Maneuvering
4804 @cindex summary movement
4806 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4807 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4809 None of these commands select articles.
4814 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4815 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4816 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4817 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4818 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4822 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4823 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4824 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4825 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4826 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4829 @kindex G g (Summary)
4830 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4831 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4832 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4835 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4836 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4837 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4838 to the group buffer.
4840 Variables related to summary movement:
4844 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4845 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4846 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4847 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4848 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4849 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4850 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4851 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4852 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4853 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4854 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4855 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4856 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4857 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4859 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4860 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4861 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4862 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4863 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4864 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4865 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4867 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4869 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4870 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4871 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4872 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4873 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4875 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4876 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4877 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4878 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4879 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4880 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4881 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4882 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4885 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4886 the given number of lines from the top.
4891 @node Choosing Articles
4892 @section Choosing Articles
4893 @cindex selecting articles
4896 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4897 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4901 @node Choosing Commands
4902 @subsection Choosing Commands
4904 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4905 and they all select and display an article.
4907 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4908 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4912 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4913 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4914 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4915 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4920 @kindex G n (Summary)
4921 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4922 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4923 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4928 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4929 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4930 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4935 @kindex G N (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4937 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4942 @kindex G P (Summary)
4943 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4944 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4947 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4949 Go to the next article with the same subject
4950 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4953 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4954 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4955 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4956 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4960 @kindex G f (Summary)
4962 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4963 Go to the first unread article
4964 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4968 @kindex G b (Summary)
4970 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4971 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4972 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4973 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4978 @kindex G l (Summary)
4979 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4980 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4983 @kindex G o (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4986 @cindex article history
4987 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4988 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4989 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4990 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4991 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4992 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4997 @kindex G j (Summary)
4998 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4999 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5000 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5005 @node Choosing Variables
5006 @subsection Choosing Variables
5008 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5011 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5012 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5013 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5014 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5015 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5016 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5018 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5019 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5020 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5021 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5022 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5023 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5025 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5026 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5027 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5028 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5029 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5030 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5031 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5032 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5033 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5034 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5035 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5036 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5037 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5038 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5043 @node Paging the Article
5044 @section Scrolling the Article
5045 @cindex article scrolling
5050 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5051 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5052 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5053 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5054 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5057 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5059 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5062 @kindex RET (Summary)
5063 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5064 Scroll the current article one line forward
5065 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5068 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5069 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5070 Scroll the current article one line backward
5071 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5075 @kindex A g (Summary)
5077 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5078 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5079 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5080 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5081 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5082 the way it came from the server.
5084 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5085 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5086 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5089 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5094 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5099 @kindex A < (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5101 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5102 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5107 @kindex A > (Summary)
5108 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5109 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5113 @kindex A s (Summary)
5115 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5116 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5117 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5121 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5122 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5127 @node Reply Followup and Post
5128 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5131 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5132 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5133 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5134 * Canceling and Superseding::
5138 @node Summary Mail Commands
5139 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5141 @cindex composing mail
5143 Commands for composing a mail message:
5149 @kindex S r (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5152 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5153 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5154 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5160 @kindex S R (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5162 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5163 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5164 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5165 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5168 @kindex S w (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5170 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5171 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5172 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5173 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5176 @kindex S W (Summary)
5177 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5178 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5179 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5180 the process/prefix convention.
5183 @kindex S v (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5185 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5186 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5187 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5188 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5189 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5192 @kindex S V (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5194 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5195 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5196 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5199 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5201 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5202 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5205 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5207 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5208 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5209 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5213 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5214 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5216 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5217 Forward the current article to some other person
5218 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5219 headers of the forwarded article.
5224 @kindex S m (Summary)
5225 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5226 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5227 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5228 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5229 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5234 @kindex S i (Summary)
5235 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5236 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5237 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5238 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5240 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5241 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5242 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5243 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5244 for this to work though.
5247 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5249 @cindex bouncing mail
5250 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5251 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5252 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5253 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5254 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5255 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5256 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5257 very well fail, though.
5260 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5262 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5263 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5264 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5265 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5266 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5267 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5268 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5269 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5271 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5272 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5273 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5274 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5275 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5277 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5278 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5281 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5282 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5283 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5284 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5285 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5288 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5289 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5290 @cindex crossposting
5291 @cindex excessive crossposting
5292 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5293 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5295 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5296 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5297 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5298 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5299 command understands the process/prefix convention
5300 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5304 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5305 Manual}, for more information.
5308 @node Summary Post Commands
5309 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5311 @cindex composing news
5313 Commands for posting a news article:
5319 @kindex S p (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5321 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5322 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5323 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5324 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5329 @kindex S f (Summary)
5330 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5331 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5332 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5336 @kindex S F (Summary)
5338 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5339 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5340 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5341 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5342 process/prefix convention.
5345 @kindex S n (Summary)
5346 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5347 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5348 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5351 @kindex S N (Summary)
5352 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5353 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5354 message through mail and include the original message
5355 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5356 the process/prefix convention.
5359 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5361 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5362 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5363 headers of the forwarded article.
5366 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5367 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5369 @cindex making digests
5370 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5371 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5372 process/prefix convention.
5375 @kindex S u (Summary)
5376 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5377 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5378 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5379 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5382 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5383 Manual}, for more information.
5386 @node Summary Message Commands
5387 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5391 @kindex S y (Summary)
5392 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5393 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5394 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5395 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5396 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5401 @node Canceling and Superseding
5402 @subsection Canceling Articles
5403 @cindex canceling articles
5404 @cindex superseding articles
5406 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5407 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5409 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5411 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5413 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5414 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5415 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5416 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5417 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5418 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5420 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5421 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5424 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5425 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5426 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5428 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5429 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5430 your original article.
5432 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5434 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5435 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5436 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5439 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5440 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5441 have posted almost the same article twice.
5443 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5444 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5445 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5446 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5447 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5448 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5449 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5450 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5451 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5452 canceled/superseded.
5454 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5456 @node Delayed Articles
5457 @section Delayed Articles
5458 @cindex delayed sending
5459 @cindex send delayed
5461 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5462 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5463 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5464 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5467 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5470 @findex gnus-delay-article
5471 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5472 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5473 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5474 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5478 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5479 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5480 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5481 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5484 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5485 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5486 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5489 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5490 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5491 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5492 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5493 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5494 that means a time tomorrow.
5497 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5498 couple of variables:
5501 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5502 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5503 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5504 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5506 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5507 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5508 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5509 formats described above.
5511 @item gnus-delay-group
5512 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5513 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5514 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5515 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5517 @item gnus-delay-header
5518 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5519 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5520 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5521 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5524 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5525 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5526 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5527 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5528 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5530 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5531 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5532 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5533 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5534 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5535 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5536 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5539 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5540 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5542 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5543 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5544 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5545 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5546 argument is ignored.
5548 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5549 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5550 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5554 @node Marking Articles
5555 @section Marking Articles
5556 @cindex article marking
5557 @cindex article ticking
5560 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5562 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5563 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5564 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5566 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5569 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5570 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5571 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5575 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5579 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5580 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5581 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5585 @node Unread Articles
5586 @subsection Unread Articles
5588 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5593 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5594 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5596 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5597 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5598 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5599 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5600 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5601 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5602 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5605 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5606 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5608 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5609 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5610 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5611 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5615 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5616 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5618 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5623 @subsection Read Articles
5624 @cindex expirable mark
5626 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5631 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5632 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5633 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5636 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5637 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5640 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5641 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5642 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5645 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5646 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5649 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5650 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5653 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5654 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5657 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5658 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5661 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5662 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5665 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5666 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5669 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5670 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5674 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5675 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5676 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5680 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5681 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5683 One more special mark, though:
5687 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5688 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5690 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5691 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5692 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5693 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5699 @subsection Other Marks
5700 @cindex process mark
5703 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5709 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5710 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5711 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5712 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5713 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5716 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5717 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5718 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5719 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5722 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5723 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5724 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5727 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5728 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5729 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5732 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5733 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5734 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5735 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5738 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5739 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5740 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5741 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5742 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5743 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5746 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5747 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5748 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5749 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5752 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5753 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5754 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5755 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5756 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5760 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5761 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5762 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5763 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5764 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5765 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5768 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5769 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5770 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5771 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5772 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5773 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5777 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5778 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5779 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5780 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5781 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5784 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5785 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5786 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5787 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5788 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5789 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5793 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5794 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5795 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5797 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5798 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5799 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5803 @subsection Setting Marks
5804 @cindex setting marks
5806 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5811 @kindex M c (Summary)
5812 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5813 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5814 @cindex mark as unread
5815 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5816 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5822 @kindex M t (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5824 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5825 @xref{Article Caching}.
5830 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5831 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5832 Mark the current article as dormant
5833 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5837 @kindex M d (Summary)
5839 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5840 Mark the current article as read
5841 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5845 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5846 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5847 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5852 @kindex M k (Summary)
5853 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5854 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5855 and then select the next unread article
5856 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5860 @kindex M K (Summary)
5861 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5862 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5863 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5864 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5867 @kindex M C (Summary)
5868 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5869 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5870 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5873 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5874 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5875 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5876 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5879 @kindex M H (Summary)
5880 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5881 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5882 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5885 @kindex M h (Summary)
5886 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5887 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5888 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5891 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5893 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5897 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5898 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5899 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5900 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5904 @kindex M e (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5907 Mark the current article as expirable
5908 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5911 @kindex M b (Summary)
5912 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5913 Set a bookmark in the current article
5914 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5917 @kindex M B (Summary)
5918 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5919 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5920 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5923 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5925 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5926 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5929 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5931 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5932 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5935 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5937 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5938 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5939 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5942 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5943 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5944 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5945 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5946 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5947 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5948 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5949 The default is @code{t}.
5952 @node Generic Marking Commands
5953 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5955 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5956 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5957 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5958 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5959 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5962 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5963 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5966 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5967 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5968 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5969 to list in this manual.
5971 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5972 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5973 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5974 article, you could say something like:
5977 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5978 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5979 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5985 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5986 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5990 @node Setting Process Marks
5991 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5992 @cindex setting process marks
5994 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
5995 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
5996 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
5997 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
5998 commands into the cache. For more information,
5999 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6006 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6007 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6008 Mark the current article with the process mark
6009 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6010 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6014 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6015 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6016 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6017 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6020 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6021 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6022 Remove the process mark from all articles
6023 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6026 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6028 Invert the list of process marked articles
6029 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6032 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6033 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6034 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6035 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6038 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6039 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6040 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6041 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6044 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6045 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6046 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6050 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6051 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6054 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6055 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6056 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6057 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6060 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6061 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6062 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6063 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6066 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6067 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6068 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6069 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6072 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6074 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6077 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6079 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6080 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6083 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6084 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6085 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6088 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6089 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6090 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6091 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6094 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6096 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6097 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6100 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6102 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6103 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6106 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6108 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6113 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6114 set process marks based on article body contents.
6121 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6122 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6123 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6126 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6127 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6128 additional articles.
6134 @kindex / / (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6136 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6137 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6141 @kindex / a (Summary)
6142 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6143 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6144 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6148 @kindex / x (Summary)
6149 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6150 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6151 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6152 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6157 @kindex / u (Summary)
6159 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6160 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6161 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6162 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6163 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6166 @kindex / m (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6168 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6169 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6172 @kindex / t (Summary)
6173 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6174 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6175 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6176 articles younger than that number of days.
6179 @kindex / n (Summary)
6180 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6181 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6182 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6183 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6186 @kindex / w (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6188 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6189 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6193 @kindex / . (Summary)
6194 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6195 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6196 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6199 @kindex / v (Summary)
6200 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6201 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6202 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6205 @kindex / p (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6207 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6208 group parameter predicate
6209 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6210 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6214 @kindex M S (Summary)
6215 @kindex / E (Summary)
6216 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6217 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6218 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6221 @kindex / D (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6223 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6224 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6227 @kindex / * (Summary)
6228 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6229 Include all cached articles in the limit
6230 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6233 @kindex / d (Summary)
6234 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6235 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6236 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6239 @kindex / M (Summary)
6240 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6241 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6244 @kindex / T (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6246 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6249 @kindex / c (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6251 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6252 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6255 @kindex / C (Summary)
6256 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6257 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6258 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6259 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6262 @kindex / N (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6264 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6265 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6268 @kindex / o (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6270 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6271 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6279 @cindex article threading
6281 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6282 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6283 hierarchical fashion.
6285 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6286 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6287 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6288 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6289 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6290 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6291 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6293 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6297 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6300 A tree-like article structure.
6303 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6306 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6307 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6308 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6309 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6310 called loose threads.
6312 @item thread gathering
6313 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6315 @item sparse threads
6316 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6317 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6323 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6324 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6328 @node Customizing Threading
6329 @subsection Customizing Threading
6330 @cindex customizing threading
6333 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6334 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6335 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6336 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6341 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6344 @cindex loose threads
6347 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6348 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6349 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6350 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6351 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6352 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6354 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6355 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6356 There are four possible values:
6360 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6361 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6362 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6363 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6364 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6369 @cindex adopting articles
6374 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6375 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6376 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6377 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6380 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6381 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6382 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6383 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6384 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6385 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6386 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6387 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6388 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6389 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6392 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6393 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6394 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6398 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6399 display them after one another.
6402 Don't gather loose threads.
6405 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6406 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6407 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6408 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6409 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6410 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6411 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6412 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6413 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6414 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6415 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6417 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6418 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6419 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6422 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6423 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6424 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6425 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6426 simplification is used.
6428 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6429 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6430 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6431 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6433 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6435 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6441 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6442 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6443 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6444 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6449 (mapconcat 'identity
6450 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6452 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6455 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6458 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6459 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6460 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6461 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6462 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6463 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6465 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6468 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6469 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6470 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6472 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6473 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6476 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6477 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6478 Remove excessive whitespace.
6480 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6481 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6482 Remove all whitespace.
6485 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6488 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6489 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6490 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6491 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6492 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6493 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6494 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6495 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6497 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6498 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6499 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6500 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6501 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6502 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6503 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6504 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6505 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6509 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6510 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6511 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6512 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6514 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6515 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6516 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6519 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6523 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6524 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6530 @node Filling In Threads
6531 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6534 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6535 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6536 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6537 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6538 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6539 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6540 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6541 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6542 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6543 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6544 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6545 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6548 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6549 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6550 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6552 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6553 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6554 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6555 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6556 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6557 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6558 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6559 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6560 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6561 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6562 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6563 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6564 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6565 @code{nil} by default.
6567 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6568 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6569 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6570 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6571 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6572 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6573 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6575 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6576 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6577 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6582 @node More Threading
6583 @subsubsection More Threading
6586 @item gnus-show-threads
6587 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6588 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6589 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6590 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6591 slower and more awkward.
6593 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6594 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6595 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6598 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6599 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6600 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6605 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6606 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6607 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6610 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6611 unread, but you get my drift.)
6614 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6615 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6616 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6617 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6618 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6619 threads are expunged.
6621 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6622 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6623 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6626 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6627 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6628 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6629 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6630 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6631 result in a new thread.
6633 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6634 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6635 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6638 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6639 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6640 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6641 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6642 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6643 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6644 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6645 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6646 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6647 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6648 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6653 @node Low-Level Threading
6654 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6658 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6659 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6660 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6661 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6662 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6663 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6665 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6666 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6667 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6668 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6669 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6670 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6671 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6672 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6673 meaningful. Here's one example:
6676 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6678 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6679 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6681 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6683 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6690 @node Thread Commands
6691 @subsection Thread Commands
6692 @cindex thread commands
6698 @kindex T k (Summary)
6699 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6700 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6701 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6702 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6703 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6708 @kindex T l (Summary)
6709 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6711 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6712 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6715 @kindex T i (Summary)
6716 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6717 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6718 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6721 @kindex T # (Summary)
6722 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6723 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6724 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6727 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6728 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6729 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6730 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6733 @kindex T T (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6735 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6738 @kindex T s (Summary)
6739 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6740 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6741 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6744 @kindex T h (Summary)
6745 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6746 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6749 @kindex T S (Summary)
6750 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6751 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6754 @kindex T H (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6756 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6759 @kindex T t (Summary)
6760 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6761 Re-thread the current article's thread
6762 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6763 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6766 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6767 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6768 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6769 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6773 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6774 understand the numeric prefix.
6779 @kindex T n (Summary)
6781 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6783 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6784 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6785 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6788 @kindex T p (Summary)
6790 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6792 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6793 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6794 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6797 @kindex T d (Summary)
6798 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6799 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6802 @kindex T u (Summary)
6803 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6804 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6807 @kindex T o (Summary)
6808 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6809 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6812 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6813 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6814 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6815 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6816 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6817 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6818 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6819 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6820 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6821 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6822 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6823 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6827 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6828 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6830 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6831 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6832 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6833 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6834 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6835 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6836 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6837 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6838 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6839 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6840 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6841 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6842 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6844 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6845 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6846 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6847 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6848 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6849 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6850 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6851 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6853 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6854 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6855 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6857 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6858 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6859 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6860 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6861 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6862 ascending article order.
6864 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6865 by number, you could do something like:
6868 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6869 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6870 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6871 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6874 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6875 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6876 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6877 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6878 which the articles arrived.
6880 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6884 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6886 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6887 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6890 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6891 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6892 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6893 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6896 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6897 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6898 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6899 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6900 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6901 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6902 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6903 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6904 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6905 variable. It is very similar to the
6906 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6907 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6908 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6909 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6910 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6911 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6912 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6914 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6918 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6919 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6920 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6925 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6926 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6927 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6928 @cindex article pre-fetch
6931 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6932 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6933 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6934 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6935 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6937 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6938 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6940 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6941 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6942 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6943 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6944 connection is blocked.
6946 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6947 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6948 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6949 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6951 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6952 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6953 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6954 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6957 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6960 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6961 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6962 happen automatically.
6964 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6965 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6966 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6967 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6968 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6969 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6970 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6972 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6973 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6974 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6975 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6976 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6977 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6978 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6979 data structure as the only parameter.
6981 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6984 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6985 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6986 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6987 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6990 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6993 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6994 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6995 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6997 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6998 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6999 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7000 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7004 Remove articles when they are read.
7007 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7010 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7012 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7013 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7014 @c from the next group.
7017 @node Article Caching
7018 @section Article Caching
7019 @cindex article caching
7022 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7023 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7024 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7025 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7026 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7028 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7030 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7031 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7032 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7033 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7034 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7035 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7036 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7037 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7039 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7040 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7041 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7042 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7043 as dormant, and don't worry.
7045 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7047 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7048 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7049 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7050 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7051 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7052 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7053 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7054 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7055 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7056 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7058 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7059 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7060 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7061 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7062 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7063 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7064 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7065 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7066 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7067 not then be downloaded by this command.
7069 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7070 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7071 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7072 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7073 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7074 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7076 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7077 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7078 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7079 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7080 variables, the group is not cached.
7082 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7083 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7084 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7085 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7086 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7087 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7088 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7089 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7090 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7093 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7094 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7095 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7096 where, isn't that cool?
7098 @node Persistent Articles
7099 @section Persistent Articles
7100 @cindex persistent articles
7102 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7103 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7104 useful in my opinion.
7106 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7107 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7108 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7109 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7110 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7111 the expiry going on at the news server.
7113 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7114 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7115 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7121 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7122 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7125 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7126 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7127 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7128 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7132 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7134 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7135 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7136 interested in persistent articles:
7139 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7143 @node Article Backlog
7144 @section Article Backlog
7146 @cindex article backlog
7148 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7149 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7150 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7151 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7152 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7153 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7154 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7155 increase memory usage some.
7157 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7158 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7159 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7160 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7161 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7162 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7163 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7165 The default value is 20.
7168 @node Saving Articles
7169 @section Saving Articles
7170 @cindex saving articles
7172 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7173 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7174 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7175 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7176 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7178 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7179 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7180 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7182 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7183 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7184 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7186 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7187 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7188 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7189 deleted before saving.
7195 @kindex O o (Summary)
7197 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7198 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7199 Save the current article using the default article saver
7200 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7203 @kindex O m (Summary)
7204 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7205 Save the current article in mail format
7206 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7209 @kindex O r (Summary)
7210 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7211 Save the current article in rmail format
7212 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7215 @kindex O f (Summary)
7216 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7217 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7218 Save the current article in plain file format
7219 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7222 @kindex O F (Summary)
7223 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7224 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7225 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7228 @kindex O b (Summary)
7229 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7230 Save the current article body in plain file format
7231 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7234 @kindex O h (Summary)
7235 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7236 Save the current article in mh folder format
7237 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7240 @kindex O v (Summary)
7241 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7242 Save the current article in a VM folder
7243 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7247 @kindex O p (Summary)
7249 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7250 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7251 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7252 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7253 complete headers in the piped output.
7256 @kindex O P (Summary)
7257 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7258 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7259 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7260 external program Muttprint (see
7261 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7262 options to use is controlled by the variable
7263 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7267 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7268 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7269 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7270 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7271 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7272 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7273 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7274 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7275 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7276 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7277 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7278 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7282 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7283 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7284 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7285 functions below, or you can create your own.
7289 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7290 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7291 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7292 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7293 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7294 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7295 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7297 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7298 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7299 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7300 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7301 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7302 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7304 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7305 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7306 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7307 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7308 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7309 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7310 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7312 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7313 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7314 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7315 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7316 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7317 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7319 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7320 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7321 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7322 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7323 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7325 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7326 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7327 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7328 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7329 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7332 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7333 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7334 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7335 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7336 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7338 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7339 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7340 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7341 reader to use this setting.
7344 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7345 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7346 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7347 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7350 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7351 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7352 available functions that generate names:
7356 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7357 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7358 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7360 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7361 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7362 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7364 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7365 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7366 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7368 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7369 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7370 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7372 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7373 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7374 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7377 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7378 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7379 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7380 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7381 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7385 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7386 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7387 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7388 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7391 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7392 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7393 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7394 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7395 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7396 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7397 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7398 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7399 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7401 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7402 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7403 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7404 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7406 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7407 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7408 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7411 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7412 lots of mail groups called things like
7413 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7414 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7415 following will do just that:
7418 (defun my-save-name (group)
7419 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7420 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7422 (setq gnus-split-methods
7423 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7428 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7429 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7430 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7431 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7432 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7433 all the files in the top level directory
7434 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7435 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7436 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7437 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7439 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7440 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7441 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7442 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7443 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7446 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7450 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7451 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7452 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7455 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7456 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7457 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7458 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7461 @node Decoding Articles
7462 @section Decoding Articles
7463 @cindex decoding articles
7465 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7466 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7469 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7470 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7471 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7472 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7473 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7474 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7478 @cindex article series
7479 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7480 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7481 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7482 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7483 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7485 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7486 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7487 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7489 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7490 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7491 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7493 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7494 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7495 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7498 @node Uuencoded Articles
7499 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7501 @cindex uuencoded articles
7506 @kindex X u (Summary)
7507 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7508 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7509 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7512 @kindex X U (Summary)
7513 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7514 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7515 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7518 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7519 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7520 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7523 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7524 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7525 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7526 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7530 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7531 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7532 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7533 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7534 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7536 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7537 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7538 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7539 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7542 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7543 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7544 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7545 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7546 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7547 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7551 @node Shell Archives
7552 @subsection Shell Archives
7554 @cindex shell archives
7555 @cindex shared articles
7557 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7558 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7559 some commands to deal with these:
7564 @kindex X s (Summary)
7565 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7566 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7569 @kindex X S (Summary)
7570 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7571 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7574 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7575 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7576 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7579 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7580 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7581 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7582 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7586 @node PostScript Files
7587 @subsection PostScript Files
7593 @kindex X p (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7595 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7598 @kindex X P (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7600 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7601 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7604 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7606 View the current PostScript series
7607 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7610 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7611 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7612 View and save the current PostScript series
7613 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7618 @subsection Other Files
7622 @kindex X o (Summary)
7623 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7624 Save the current series
7625 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7628 @kindex X b (Summary)
7629 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7630 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7631 doesn't really work yet.
7635 @node Decoding Variables
7636 @subsection Decoding Variables
7638 Adjective, not verb.
7641 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7642 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7643 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7647 @node Rule Variables
7648 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7649 @cindex rule variables
7651 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7652 variables are of the form
7655 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7662 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7663 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7665 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7666 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7669 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7670 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7673 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7674 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7675 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7676 user and default view rules.
7678 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7679 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7680 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7685 @node Other Decode Variables
7686 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7689 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7691 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7692 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7693 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7694 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7695 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7699 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7700 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7703 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7704 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7705 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7708 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7709 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7710 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7711 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7712 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7715 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7716 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7717 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7719 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7720 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7721 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7722 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7723 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7726 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7727 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7728 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7730 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7731 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7732 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7733 looking for files to display.
7735 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7736 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7737 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7740 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7741 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7742 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7745 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7746 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7747 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7750 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7751 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7752 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7755 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7756 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7757 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7758 decoded articles as unread.
7760 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7761 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7762 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7763 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7765 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7766 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7767 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7769 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7770 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7772 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7773 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7774 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7775 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7777 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7778 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7779 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7780 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7781 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7782 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7783 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7784 simply dropped them.
7789 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7790 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7794 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7795 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7796 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7797 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7798 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7799 for you when you post the article.
7801 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7802 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7803 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7804 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7806 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7807 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7808 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7809 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7810 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7811 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7812 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7814 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7815 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7816 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7817 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7818 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7819 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7820 Default is @code{t}.
7826 @subsection Viewing Files
7827 @cindex viewing files
7828 @cindex pseudo-articles
7830 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7831 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7832 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7833 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7834 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7835 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7836 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7838 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7839 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7840 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7841 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7843 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7844 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7845 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7847 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7848 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7849 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7850 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7851 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7853 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7854 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7855 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7856 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7857 a list of parameters to that command.
7859 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7860 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7861 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7863 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7864 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7865 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7868 @node Article Treatment
7869 @section Article Treatment
7871 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7872 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7873 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7874 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7875 these articles easier.
7878 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7879 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7880 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7881 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7882 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7883 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7884 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7885 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7886 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7887 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7891 @node Article Highlighting
7892 @subsection Article Highlighting
7893 @cindex highlighting
7895 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7896 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7901 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7902 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7903 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7904 Do much highlighting of the current article
7905 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7906 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7909 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7910 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7911 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7912 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7913 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7914 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7915 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7916 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7917 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7918 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7919 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7920 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7923 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7924 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7925 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7927 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7930 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7932 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7933 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7934 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7936 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7937 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7938 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7940 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7941 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7942 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7943 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7944 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7945 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7947 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7948 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7949 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7951 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7952 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7953 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7955 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7956 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7957 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7958 that it's a citation.
7960 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7961 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7962 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7964 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7965 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7966 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7968 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7969 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7970 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7971 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7977 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7978 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7979 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7980 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7981 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7982 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7983 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7984 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7989 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7992 @node Article Fontisizing
7993 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7995 @cindex article emphasis
7997 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7998 @kindex W e (Summary)
7999 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8000 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8001 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8002 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8004 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8005 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8006 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8007 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8008 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8009 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8010 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8011 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8015 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8016 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8017 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8026 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8027 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8028 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8029 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8030 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8031 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8032 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8033 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8034 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8035 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8036 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8037 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8038 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8040 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8041 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8042 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8046 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8049 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8051 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8052 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8053 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8054 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8056 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8059 @node Article Hiding
8060 @subsection Article Hiding
8061 @cindex article hiding
8063 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8064 too much cruft in most articles.
8069 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8070 @findex gnus-article-hide
8071 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8072 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8073 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8076 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8077 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8078 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8082 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8083 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8084 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8085 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8088 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8089 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8090 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8094 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8095 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8096 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8097 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8098 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8099 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8100 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8101 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8105 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8106 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8107 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8108 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8113 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8115 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8116 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8119 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8121 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8122 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8125 @cindex stripping advertisements
8126 @cindex advertisements
8127 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8128 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8129 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8130 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8131 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8132 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8133 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8134 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8135 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8136 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8139 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8140 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8141 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8145 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8146 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8147 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8148 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8149 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8150 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8151 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8152 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8153 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8154 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8155 following element to remove them:
8158 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8164 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8165 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8166 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8167 customizing the hiding:
8171 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8172 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8173 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8174 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8175 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8176 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8177 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8182 Starting point of the hidden text.
8184 Ending point of the hidden text.
8186 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8188 Number of lines of hidden text.
8191 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8192 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8193 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8194 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8195 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8200 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8201 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8203 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8204 following two variables:
8207 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8208 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8209 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8210 50), hide the cited text.
8212 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8213 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8214 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8219 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8220 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8221 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8222 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8223 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8224 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8228 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8229 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8230 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8232 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8233 citation customization.
8235 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8239 @node Article Washing
8240 @subsection Article Washing
8242 @cindex article washing
8244 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8245 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8247 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8248 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8251 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8252 articles by default.
8257 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8258 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8262 @kindex W l (Summary)
8263 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8264 Remove page breaks from the current article
8265 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8269 @kindex W r (Summary)
8270 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8271 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8272 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8273 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8274 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8275 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8277 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8278 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8279 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8280 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8283 @kindex W m (Summary)
8284 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8285 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8286 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8290 @kindex W t (Summary)
8292 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8293 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8294 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8297 @kindex W v (Summary)
8298 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8299 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8300 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8303 @kindex W m (Summary)
8304 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8305 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8306 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8309 @kindex W o (Summary)
8310 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8311 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8314 @kindex W d (Summary)
8315 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8316 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8318 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8320 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8321 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8322 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8323 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8326 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8327 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8328 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8329 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8332 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8333 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8334 @cindex Outlook Express
8335 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8336 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8337 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8340 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8341 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8342 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8343 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8344 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8345 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8346 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8347 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8348 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8349 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8352 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8353 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8354 Repair a broken attribution line.
8355 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8358 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8360 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8361 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8364 @kindex W w (Summary)
8365 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8366 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8368 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8372 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8373 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8374 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8377 @kindex W C (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8379 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8380 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8383 @kindex W c (Summary)
8384 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8385 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8386 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8387 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8388 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8391 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8392 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8393 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8394 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8395 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8396 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8397 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8399 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8402 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8403 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8404 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8405 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8406 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8409 @kindex W u (Summary)
8410 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8411 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8412 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8413 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8414 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8417 @kindex W h (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8419 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8420 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8421 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8423 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8425 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8426 The default is to use the function specified by
8427 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8428 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8429 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8430 you can use include:
8437 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8441 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8444 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8447 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8452 @kindex W b (Summary)
8453 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8454 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8455 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8458 @kindex W B (Summary)
8459 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8460 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8461 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8464 @kindex W p (Summary)
8465 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8466 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8467 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8468 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8469 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8470 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8471 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8474 @kindex W s (Summary)
8475 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8476 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8477 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8480 @kindex W a (Summary)
8481 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8482 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8483 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8486 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8487 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8488 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8489 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8492 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8493 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8494 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8495 lines with a single empty line.
8496 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8499 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8500 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8501 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8502 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8505 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8507 Do all the three commands above
8508 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8511 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8512 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8513 Remove all blank lines
8514 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8517 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8518 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8519 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8520 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8523 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8524 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8525 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8526 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8530 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8533 @node Article Header
8534 @subsection Article Header
8536 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8541 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8542 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8543 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8546 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8547 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8548 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8549 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8552 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8553 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8554 Fold all the message headers
8555 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8559 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8560 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8561 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8566 @node Article Buttons
8567 @subsection Article Buttons
8570 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8571 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8572 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8573 button on these references.
8575 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8576 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8577 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8578 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8579 one that handles article heads:
8583 @item gnus-button-alist
8584 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8585 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8588 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8594 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8595 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8596 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8597 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8598 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8601 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8602 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8603 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8606 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8607 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8608 avoid false matches.
8611 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8614 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8615 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8619 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8622 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8625 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8626 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8627 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8628 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8629 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8632 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8635 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8637 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8638 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8639 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8640 default values of the variables above.
8642 @item gnus-article-button-face
8643 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8644 Face used on buttons.
8646 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8647 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8648 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8652 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8656 @subsection Article Date
8658 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8659 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8660 when the article was sent.
8665 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8667 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8668 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8671 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8672 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8674 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8675 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8678 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8679 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8680 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8683 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8684 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8685 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8686 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8689 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8690 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8691 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8692 @findex format-time-string
8693 Display the date using a user-defined format
8694 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8695 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8696 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8697 for a list of possible format specs.
8700 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8701 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8702 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8703 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8704 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8705 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8708 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8711 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8712 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8713 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8716 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8717 into wonderful absurdities.
8719 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8722 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8725 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8726 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8730 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8732 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8733 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8734 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8735 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8736 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8740 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8741 preferred format automatically.
8744 @node Article Display
8745 @subsection Article Display
8750 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8751 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8753 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8754 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8756 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8757 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8759 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8760 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8762 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8767 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8769 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8770 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8773 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8774 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8775 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8776 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8779 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8780 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8781 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8784 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8785 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8786 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8789 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8790 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8791 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8792 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8795 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8796 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8797 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8798 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8801 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8802 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8803 Remove all images from the article buffer
8804 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8810 @node Article Signature
8811 @subsection Article Signature
8813 @cindex article signature
8815 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8816 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8817 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8818 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8819 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8820 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8821 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8822 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8823 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8826 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8827 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8828 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8829 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8830 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8831 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8832 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8833 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8836 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8839 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8840 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8841 signature when displaying articles.
8845 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8848 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8851 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8852 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8854 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8855 in question is not a signature.
8858 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8859 listed above. Here's an example:
8862 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8863 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8866 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8867 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8868 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8869 signature after all.
8872 @node Article Miscellania
8873 @subsection Article Miscellania
8877 @kindex A t (Summary)
8878 @findex gnus-article-babel
8879 Translate the article from one language to another
8880 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8886 @section MIME Commands
8887 @cindex MIME decoding
8889 @cindex viewing attachments
8891 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8892 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8898 @kindex K v (Summary)
8899 View the @sc{mime} part.
8902 @kindex K o (Summary)
8903 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8906 @kindex K c (Summary)
8907 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8910 @kindex K e (Summary)
8911 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8914 @kindex K i (Summary)
8915 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8918 @kindex K | (Summary)
8919 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8922 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8927 @kindex K b (Summary)
8928 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8929 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8933 @kindex K m (Summary)
8934 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8935 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8936 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8937 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8938 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8941 @kindex X m (Summary)
8942 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8943 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8944 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8945 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8948 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8950 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8951 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8954 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8956 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8957 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8960 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8961 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8962 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8963 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8965 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8966 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8967 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8968 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8969 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8970 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8973 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8974 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8975 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8976 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8983 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8984 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8985 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8986 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8989 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8992 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8996 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
8997 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
8998 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
8999 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9000 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9001 default is @code{nil}.
9003 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9004 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9005 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9006 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9007 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9008 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9009 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9011 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9012 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9013 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9014 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9015 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9016 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9017 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9018 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9020 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9021 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9022 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9023 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9024 displayed. This variable overrides
9025 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9026 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9029 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9030 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9031 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9033 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9034 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9035 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9036 value is @code{nil}.
9038 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9039 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9040 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9041 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9042 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9043 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9044 save all jpegs into some directory).
9046 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9049 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9050 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9052 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9053 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9054 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9055 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9056 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9059 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9060 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9061 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9063 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9064 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9065 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9066 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9068 Ready-made functions include@*
9069 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9070 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9071 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9072 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9073 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9074 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9075 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9076 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9077 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9078 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9079 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9080 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9082 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9083 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9085 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9086 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9087 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9090 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9091 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9092 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9093 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9097 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9106 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9107 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9108 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9109 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9110 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9111 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9112 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9114 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9115 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9116 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9117 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9119 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9120 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9121 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9122 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9123 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9124 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9125 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9126 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9127 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9129 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9130 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9131 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9132 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9133 quoted-printable header encoding.
9135 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9136 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9137 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9141 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9144 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9145 means encode all charsets),
9147 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9148 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9149 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9156 @cindex coding system aliases
9157 @cindex preferred charset
9159 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9161 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9162 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9165 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9166 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9169 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9170 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9172 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9175 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9178 This will almost do the right thing.
9180 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9184 (codepage-setup 1251)
9185 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9189 @node Article Commands
9190 @section Article Commands
9197 @kindex A P (Summary)
9198 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9199 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9200 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9201 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9202 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9203 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9208 @node Summary Sorting
9209 @section Summary Sorting
9210 @cindex summary sorting
9212 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9213 can't really see why you'd want that.
9218 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9219 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9220 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9223 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9224 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9225 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9228 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9229 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9230 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9233 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9234 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9235 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9238 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9239 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9240 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9243 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9244 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9245 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9248 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9249 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9250 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9253 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9254 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9255 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9258 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9259 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9260 Sort using the default sorting method
9261 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9264 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9265 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9266 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9267 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9268 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9272 @node Finding the Parent
9273 @section Finding the Parent
9274 @cindex parent articles
9275 @cindex referring articles
9280 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9281 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9282 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9283 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9284 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9285 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9286 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9287 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9288 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9290 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9291 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9292 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9293 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9294 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9298 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9299 @kindex A R (Summary)
9300 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9301 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9304 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9305 @kindex A T (Summary)
9306 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9307 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9308 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9309 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9310 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9311 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9312 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9314 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9315 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9316 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9317 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9318 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9319 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9322 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9323 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9325 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9326 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9327 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9328 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9329 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9330 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9331 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9334 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9335 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9336 by giving this command a prefix.
9338 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9339 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9340 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9341 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9342 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9343 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9346 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9347 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9348 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9351 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9352 then ask Google if that fails:
9355 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9357 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9360 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9361 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9362 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9363 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9364 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9365 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9366 support this at all.
9369 @node Alternative Approaches
9370 @section Alternative Approaches
9372 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9373 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9376 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9377 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9382 @subsection Pick and Read
9383 @cindex pick and read
9385 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9386 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9387 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9388 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9390 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9391 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9392 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9393 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9394 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9395 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9397 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9402 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9403 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9404 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9405 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9406 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9407 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9408 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9409 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9412 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9413 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9414 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9415 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9419 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9420 Unpick the thread or article
9421 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9422 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9423 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9424 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9425 the thread or article at that line.
9429 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9430 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9431 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9432 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9433 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9434 will still be visible when you are reading.
9438 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9439 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9440 which is mapped to the same function
9441 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9443 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9446 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9449 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9450 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9452 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9453 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9454 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9456 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9457 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9458 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9459 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9460 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9461 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9462 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9466 @subsection Binary Groups
9467 @cindex binary groups
9469 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9470 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9471 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9472 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9473 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9474 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9475 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9478 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9479 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9480 command, when you have turned on this mode
9481 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9483 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9484 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9488 @section Tree Display
9491 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9492 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9493 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9494 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9497 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9500 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9501 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9502 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9504 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9505 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9506 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9507 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9508 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9510 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9511 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9512 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9513 default is @code{modeline}.
9515 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9516 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9517 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9518 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9519 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9520 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9521 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9527 The name of the poster.
9529 The @code{From} header.
9531 The number of the article.
9533 The opening bracket.
9535 The closing bracket.
9540 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9542 Variables related to the display are:
9545 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9546 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9547 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9548 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9549 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9550 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9552 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9553 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9554 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9555 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9559 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9560 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9561 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9562 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9563 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9564 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9565 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9566 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9567 other windows displayed next to it.
9569 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9573 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9574 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9577 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9578 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9579 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9580 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9581 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9582 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9583 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9587 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9590 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9600 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9604 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9605 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9607 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9609 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9614 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9615 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9616 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9619 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9620 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9621 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9622 (gnus-add-configuration
9626 (summary 0.75 point)
9631 @xref{Window Layout}.
9634 @node Mail Group Commands
9635 @section Mail Group Commands
9636 @cindex mail group commands
9638 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9639 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9641 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9642 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9647 @kindex B e (Summary)
9648 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9649 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9650 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9651 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9652 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9655 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9656 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9657 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9658 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9659 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9660 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9663 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9664 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9665 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9666 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9667 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9668 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9671 @kindex B m (Summary)
9673 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9674 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9675 Move the article from one mail group to another
9676 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9677 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9680 @kindex B c (Summary)
9682 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9683 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9684 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9685 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9686 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9689 @kindex B B (Summary)
9690 @cindex crosspost mail
9691 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9692 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9693 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9694 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9695 be properly updated.
9698 @kindex B i (Summary)
9699 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9700 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9701 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9702 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9705 @kindex B I (Summary)
9706 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9707 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9708 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9709 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9712 @kindex B r (Summary)
9713 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9714 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9715 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9716 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9717 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9718 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9719 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9720 (which is the default).
9724 @kindex B w (Summary)
9726 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9727 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9728 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9729 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9730 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9731 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9732 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9735 @kindex B q (Summary)
9736 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9737 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9738 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9739 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9742 @kindex B t (Summary)
9743 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9744 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9745 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9748 @kindex B p (Summary)
9749 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9750 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9751 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9752 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9753 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9754 article from your news server (or rather, from
9755 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9756 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9757 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9758 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9759 just not have arrived yet.
9762 @kindex K E (Summary)
9763 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9764 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9765 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9766 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9767 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9771 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9772 @cindex moving articles
9773 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9774 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9775 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9776 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9777 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9778 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9779 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9782 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9783 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9784 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9785 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9789 @node Various Summary Stuff
9790 @section Various Summary Stuff
9793 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9794 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9795 * Summary Generation Commands::
9796 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9800 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9801 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9802 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9803 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9804 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9805 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9807 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9808 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9809 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9811 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9812 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9813 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9814 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9815 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9816 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9819 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9820 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9821 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9822 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9823 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9825 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9826 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9827 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9830 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9831 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9832 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9833 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9834 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9835 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9836 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9837 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9838 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9839 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9841 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9842 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9843 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9844 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9845 list of articles to be selected.
9847 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9848 the list in one particular group:
9851 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9852 (if (string= group "some.group")
9853 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9857 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9858 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9859 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9860 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9861 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9862 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9863 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9864 buffers. For example:
9867 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9868 '(message-use-followup-to
9869 (gnus-visible-headers .
9870 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9876 @node Summary Group Information
9877 @subsection Summary Group Information
9882 @kindex H f (Summary)
9883 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9884 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9885 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9886 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9887 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9888 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9889 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9890 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9891 be used for fetching the file.
9894 @kindex H d (Summary)
9895 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9896 Give a brief description of the current group
9897 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9898 rereading the description from the server.
9901 @kindex H h (Summary)
9902 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9903 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9904 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9907 @kindex H i (Summary)
9908 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9909 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9913 @node Searching for Articles
9914 @subsection Searching for Articles
9919 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9920 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9921 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9922 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9925 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9927 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9928 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9932 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9933 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9934 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9935 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9936 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9937 search backward instead.
9939 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9940 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9943 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9944 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9945 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9946 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9949 @node Summary Generation Commands
9950 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9955 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9956 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9957 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9960 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9961 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9962 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9963 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9966 @kindex Y d (Summary)
9967 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
9968 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9969 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
9974 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9975 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9981 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9982 @kindex A D (Summary)
9983 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9984 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9985 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9986 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9987 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9988 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9989 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9990 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9994 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9996 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9997 several documents into one biiig group
9998 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9999 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10000 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10001 command understands the process/prefix convention
10002 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10005 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10006 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10007 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10008 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10009 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10010 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10013 @kindex = (Summary)
10014 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10015 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10016 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10019 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10020 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10021 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10022 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10025 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10026 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10027 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10028 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10033 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10034 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10035 @cindex summary exit
10036 @cindex exiting groups
10038 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10039 group and return you to the group buffer.
10045 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10046 @kindex q (Summary)
10047 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10048 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10049 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10050 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10051 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10052 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10053 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10054 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10055 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10056 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10057 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10058 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10062 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10063 @kindex Q (Summary)
10064 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10065 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10066 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10070 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10071 @kindex c (Summary)
10072 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10073 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10074 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10075 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10078 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10079 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10080 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10081 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10084 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10085 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10086 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10087 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10090 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10091 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10092 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10093 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10094 all articles, both read and unread.
10098 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10099 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10100 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10101 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10102 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10103 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10104 articles, both read and unread.
10107 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10108 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10109 Exit the group and go to the next group
10110 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10113 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10114 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10115 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10116 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10119 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10120 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10121 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10122 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10123 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10124 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10127 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10128 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10129 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10130 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10132 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10133 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10134 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10135 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10136 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10137 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10138 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10139 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10140 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10141 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10142 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10143 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10145 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10147 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10148 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10149 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10150 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10151 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10152 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10153 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10154 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10155 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10158 @node Crosspost Handling
10159 @section Crosspost Handling
10163 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10164 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10165 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10166 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10167 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10168 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10171 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10172 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10173 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10174 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10175 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10177 @cindex cross-posting
10180 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10181 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10182 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10183 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10184 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10185 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10186 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10187 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10188 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10189 the cross reference mechanism.
10191 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10192 @cindex overview.fmt
10193 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10194 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10195 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10196 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10197 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10198 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10201 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10202 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10203 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10208 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10211 @node Duplicate Suppression
10212 @section Duplicate Suppression
10214 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10215 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10216 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10217 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10222 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10223 is evil and not very common.
10226 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10227 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10230 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10231 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10234 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10237 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10238 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10240 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10241 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10242 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10243 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10244 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10245 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10246 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10249 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10250 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10251 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10252 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10253 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10254 saw the article in.
10257 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10258 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10259 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10261 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10262 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10263 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10264 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10265 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10266 session are suppressed.
10268 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10269 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10270 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10271 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10273 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10274 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10275 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10276 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10279 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10280 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10281 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10282 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10283 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10284 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10285 to you to figure out, I think.
10290 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10291 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10292 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10296 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10297 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10298 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10299 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10302 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10303 or newer is recommended.
10307 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10308 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10311 @item mm-verify-option
10312 @vindex mm-verify-option
10313 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10314 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10315 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10317 @item mm-decrypt-option
10318 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10319 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10320 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10321 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10324 @vindex mml1991-use
10325 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10326 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10327 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10330 @vindex mml2015-use
10331 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10332 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10333 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10338 @section Mailing List
10340 @kindex A M (summary)
10341 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10342 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10343 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10344 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10345 summary buffer, or say:
10348 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10351 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10356 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10357 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10358 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10361 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10362 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10363 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10366 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10367 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10368 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10372 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10373 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10374 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10377 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10378 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10379 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10382 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10383 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10384 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10388 @node Article Buffer
10389 @chapter Article Buffer
10390 @cindex article buffer
10392 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10393 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10394 tell gnus otherwise.
10397 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10398 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10399 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10400 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10401 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10405 @node Hiding Headers
10406 @section Hiding Headers
10407 @cindex hiding headers
10408 @cindex deleting headers
10410 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10411 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10413 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10414 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10415 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10416 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10417 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10418 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10419 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10420 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10421 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10423 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10427 @item gnus-visible-headers
10428 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10429 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10430 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10431 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10433 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10434 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10437 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10440 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10443 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10444 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10445 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10446 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10447 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10448 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10450 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10451 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10454 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10457 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10460 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10461 variable will have no effect.
10465 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10466 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10467 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10468 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10469 the headers are to be displayed.
10471 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10472 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10475 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10478 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10479 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10481 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10482 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10483 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10484 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10485 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10486 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10487 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10490 These conditions are:
10493 Remove all empty headers.
10495 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10496 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10498 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10499 @code{From} header.
10501 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10504 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10505 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10507 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10510 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10512 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10515 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10518 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10519 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10522 This is also the default value for this variable.
10526 @section Using MIME
10529 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10530 while people stand around yawning.
10532 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10533 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10535 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10536 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10537 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10539 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10540 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10541 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10542 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10543 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10544 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10545 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10546 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10547 not existed yet, sorry).
10549 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10550 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10551 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10552 These can't be avoided.
10554 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10555 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10556 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10557 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10558 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10559 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10560 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10561 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10562 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10565 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10567 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10568 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10569 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10570 buffer when there are nobody else.
10572 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10575 @node Customizing Articles
10576 @section Customizing Articles
10577 @cindex article customization
10579 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10580 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10581 called automatically when you select the articles.
10583 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10584 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10585 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10586 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10588 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10589 for sensible values.
10593 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10596 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10599 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10602 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10605 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10609 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10610 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10611 regexps in the list.
10614 A list where the first element is not a string:
10616 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10617 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10618 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10622 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10626 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10631 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10632 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10633 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10634 considered to contain just a single part.
10636 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10637 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10638 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10639 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10640 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10641 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10642 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10644 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10645 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10646 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10647 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10650 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10651 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10653 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10655 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10656 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10657 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10658 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10659 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10660 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10661 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10662 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10663 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10664 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10665 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10667 @xref{Article Washing}.
10669 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10670 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10671 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10672 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10673 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10674 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10675 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10677 @xref{Article Date}.
10679 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10680 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10681 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10685 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10687 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10689 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10690 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10691 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10695 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10699 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10700 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10701 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10702 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10703 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10704 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10705 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10706 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10708 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10710 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10711 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10712 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10714 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10716 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10717 @item gnus-treat-translate
10718 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10720 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10721 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10722 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10723 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10725 @xref{Article Header}.
10730 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10731 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10732 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10733 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10734 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10738 @node Article Keymap
10739 @section Article Keymap
10741 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10742 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10743 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10744 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10747 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10752 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10753 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10754 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10757 @kindex DEL (Article)
10758 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10759 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10762 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10763 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10764 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10765 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10766 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10769 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10770 @findex gnus-article-mail
10771 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10772 given a prefix, include the mail.
10775 @kindex s (Article)
10776 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10777 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10778 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10781 @kindex ? (Article)
10782 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10783 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10784 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10787 @kindex TAB (Article)
10788 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10789 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10790 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10793 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10794 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10795 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10798 @kindex R (Article)
10799 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10800 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10801 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10802 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10806 @kindex F (Article)
10807 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10808 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10809 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10810 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10818 @section Misc Article
10822 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10823 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10824 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10825 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10828 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10829 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10831 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10832 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10834 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10835 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10836 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10837 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10838 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10839 the contents of the article buffer.
10841 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10842 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10843 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10845 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10846 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10847 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10848 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10850 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10851 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10852 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10853 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10854 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10860 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10861 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10862 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10867 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10870 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10873 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10874 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10875 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10878 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10881 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10884 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10889 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10893 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10895 @item gnus-break-pages
10896 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10897 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10898 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10899 paging will not be done.
10901 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10902 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10903 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10908 @node Composing Messages
10909 @chapter Composing Messages
10910 @cindex composing messages
10913 @cindex sending mail
10918 @cindex using s/mime
10919 @cindex using smime
10921 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10922 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10923 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10924 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10925 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10926 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10929 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10930 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10931 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10932 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10933 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10934 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10935 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10936 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10939 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10940 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10946 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10949 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10950 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10951 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10952 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10953 @code{nil} include all headers.
10955 @item gnus-add-to-list
10956 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10957 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10958 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10960 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10961 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10962 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
10963 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
10964 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
10965 confirmation is should be asked for.
10967 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10968 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10970 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10971 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10972 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
10973 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
10974 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
10979 @node Posting Server
10980 @section Posting Server
10982 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10983 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10985 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10987 It can be quite complicated.
10989 @vindex gnus-post-method
10990 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10991 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10992 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10993 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10994 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10995 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10996 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10997 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10998 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11001 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11004 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11005 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11006 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11007 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11009 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11010 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11012 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11013 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11016 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11017 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11019 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11020 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11021 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11022 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11023 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11024 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11025 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11026 package correctly. An example:
11029 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11030 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11031 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11032 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11033 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11036 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11037 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11038 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11040 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11041 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11042 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11044 @node Mail and Post
11045 @section Mail and Post
11047 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11051 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11052 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11053 @cindex mailing lists
11055 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11056 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11057 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11058 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11059 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11060 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11061 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11062 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11063 still a pain, though.
11067 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11068 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11069 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11072 @findex ispell-message
11074 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11077 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11078 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11081 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11085 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11086 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11088 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11091 Modify to suit your needs.
11094 @node Archived Messages
11095 @section Archived Messages
11096 @cindex archived messages
11097 @cindex sent messages
11099 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11100 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11101 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11102 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11105 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11106 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11109 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11110 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11111 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11114 (nnfolder "archive"
11115 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11116 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11117 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11118 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11121 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11122 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11123 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11124 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11127 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11128 '(nnfolder "archive"
11129 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11130 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11131 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11134 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11136 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11137 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11138 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11140 This variable can be used to do the following:
11145 Messages will be saved in that group.
11147 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11148 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11149 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11150 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11151 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11152 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11153 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11154 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11158 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11160 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11161 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11164 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11169 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11171 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11174 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11176 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11179 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11181 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11182 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11183 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11184 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11187 More complex stuff:
11189 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11190 '((if (message-news-p)
11195 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11196 messages in one file per month:
11199 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11200 '((if (message-news-p)
11202 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11205 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11206 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11208 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11209 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11210 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11211 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11212 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11213 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11214 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11215 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11216 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11217 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11219 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11220 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11221 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11222 this will disable archiving.
11225 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11226 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11227 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11228 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11229 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11232 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11233 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11234 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11237 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11238 but the latter is the preferred method.
11240 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11241 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11242 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11244 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11245 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11246 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11247 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11248 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11249 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11250 changed in the future.
11255 @node Posting Styles
11256 @section Posting Styles
11257 @cindex posting styles
11260 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11262 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11263 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11264 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11267 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11268 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11269 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11270 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11271 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11276 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11277 (organization "What me?"))
11279 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11280 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11281 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11284 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11285 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11286 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11287 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11288 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11289 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11290 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11291 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11293 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11294 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11295 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11296 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11297 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11298 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11299 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11300 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11301 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11302 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11303 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11306 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11307 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11308 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11309 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11310 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11311 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11312 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11313 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11314 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11315 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11318 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11319 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11320 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11321 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11322 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11323 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11324 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11325 references chars lines xref extra.
11327 @vindex message-reply-headers
11329 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11330 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11331 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11333 @findex message-mail-p
11334 @findex message-news-p
11336 So here's a new example:
11339 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11341 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11343 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11344 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11346 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11347 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11348 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11349 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11350 (signature my-news-signature))
11351 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11352 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11353 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11354 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11355 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11356 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11357 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11358 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11359 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11360 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11362 (From (save-excursion
11363 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11364 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11366 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11369 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11370 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11371 if you fill many roles.
11373 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11374 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11375 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11376 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11377 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11378 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11379 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11380 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11385 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11387 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11389 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11390 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11393 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11396 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11397 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11404 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11405 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11406 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11407 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11408 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11410 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11411 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11412 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11413 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11414 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11418 @vindex nndraft-directory
11419 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11420 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11421 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11422 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11423 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11424 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11426 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11427 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11430 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11431 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11432 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11433 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11434 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11435 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11436 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11437 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11438 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11439 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11440 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11441 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11442 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11443 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11445 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11446 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11447 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11449 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11450 @kindex D e (Draft)
11451 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11452 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11453 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11455 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11458 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11459 @kindex D s (Draft)
11460 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11461 @kindex D S (Draft)
11462 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11463 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11464 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11465 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11466 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11469 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11470 @kindex D t (Draft)
11471 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11472 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11473 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11476 @node Rejected Articles
11477 @section Rejected Articles
11478 @cindex rejected articles
11480 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11481 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11482 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11483 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11485 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11486 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11487 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11488 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11489 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11491 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11492 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11493 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11495 @node Signing and encrypting
11496 @section Signing and encrypting
11498 @cindex using s/mime
11499 @cindex using smime
11501 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11502 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11503 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11504 (@pxref{Security}).
11506 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11507 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11508 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11509 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11510 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11511 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11512 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11513 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11514 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11515 automatically encrypted messages.
11517 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11518 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11519 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11524 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11525 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11527 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11530 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11531 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11533 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11536 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11537 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11539 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11542 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11543 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11545 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11548 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11549 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11551 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11554 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11555 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11557 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11560 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11561 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11562 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11566 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11568 @node Select Methods
11569 @chapter Select Methods
11570 @cindex foreign groups
11571 @cindex select methods
11573 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11574 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11575 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11576 personal mail group.
11578 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11579 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11580 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11581 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11582 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11583 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11585 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11586 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11588 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11591 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11592 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11593 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11594 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11595 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11597 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11600 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11601 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11602 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11603 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11604 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11605 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11606 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11607 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11611 @node Server Buffer
11612 @section Server Buffer
11614 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11615 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11616 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11617 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11618 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11619 back end represents a virtual server.
11621 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11622 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11623 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11624 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11626 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11627 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11628 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11629 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11630 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11631 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11632 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11634 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11635 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11638 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11639 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11640 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11641 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11642 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11643 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11644 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11647 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11648 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11651 @node Server Buffer Format
11652 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11653 @cindex server buffer format
11655 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11656 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11657 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11658 variable, with some simple extensions:
11663 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11666 The name of this server.
11669 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11672 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11675 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11676 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11677 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11678 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11688 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11691 @node Server Commands
11692 @subsection Server Commands
11693 @cindex server commands
11699 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11700 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11704 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11705 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11708 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11709 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11710 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11714 @findex gnus-server-exit
11715 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11719 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11720 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11724 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11725 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11729 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11730 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11734 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11735 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11739 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11740 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11741 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11746 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11747 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11748 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11749 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11754 @node Example Methods
11755 @subsection Example Methods
11757 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11760 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11763 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11769 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11770 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11773 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11774 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11776 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11777 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11781 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11784 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11785 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11787 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11788 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11789 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11793 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11796 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11799 Here's the method for a public spool:
11803 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11804 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11810 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11811 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11812 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11813 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11814 should probably look something like this:
11818 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11819 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11820 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11821 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11824 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11825 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11826 configuration to the example above:
11829 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11832 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11834 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11835 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11836 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11840 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11841 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11842 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11843 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11846 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11847 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11848 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11849 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11852 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11853 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11855 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11856 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11858 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11859 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11860 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11862 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11864 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11865 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11866 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11867 will contain the following:
11877 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11878 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11879 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11882 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11883 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11884 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11887 @node Server Variables
11888 @subsection Server Variables
11890 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11891 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11892 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11893 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11894 won't change the "derived" variables.
11896 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11897 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11898 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11899 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11900 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11901 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11902 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11903 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11904 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11908 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11909 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11910 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11914 @node Servers and Methods
11915 @subsection Servers and Methods
11917 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11918 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11919 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11920 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11924 @node Unavailable Servers
11925 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11927 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11928 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11929 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11930 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11931 actually the case or not.
11933 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11934 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11935 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11936 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11937 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11938 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11939 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11940 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11942 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11943 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11945 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11946 with the following commands:
11952 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11953 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11954 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11958 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11959 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11960 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11964 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11965 Mark the current server as unreachable
11966 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11969 @kindex M-o (Server)
11970 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11971 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11972 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11975 @kindex M-c (Server)
11976 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11977 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11978 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11982 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11983 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11984 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11988 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11989 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11995 @section Getting News
11996 @cindex reading news
11997 @cindex news back ends
11999 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12000 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12001 or it can read from a local spool.
12004 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12005 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12013 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12014 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12015 server as the, uhm, address.
12017 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12018 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12019 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12020 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12022 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12023 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12024 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12026 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12031 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12032 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12033 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12035 @cindex authentification
12036 @cindex nntp authentification
12037 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12038 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12039 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12040 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12041 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12042 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12043 present in this hook.
12045 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12046 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12047 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12048 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12049 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12050 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12051 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12052 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12053 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12054 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12055 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12056 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12060 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12063 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12065 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12066 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12067 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12068 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12069 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12070 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12071 @samp{force} is explained below.
12075 Here's an example file:
12078 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12079 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12082 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12083 have to be first, for instance.
12085 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12086 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12087 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12088 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12089 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12090 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12091 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12093 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12094 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12100 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12101 previously mentioned.
12103 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12105 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12106 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12107 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12108 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12109 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12112 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12113 '(("innd" (ding))))
12116 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12118 The default value is
12121 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12122 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12123 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12126 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12127 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12129 @item nntp-maximum-request
12130 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12131 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12132 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12133 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12134 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12135 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12136 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12138 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12139 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12140 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12141 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12142 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12143 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12144 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12145 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12146 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12147 no timeouts are done.
12149 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12150 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12151 @c @cindex PPP connections
12152 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12153 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12154 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12155 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12156 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12157 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12158 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12159 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12160 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12161 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12163 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12164 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12165 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12166 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12167 @c described above.
12169 @item nntp-server-hook
12170 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12171 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12174 @item nntp-buggy-select
12175 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12176 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12178 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12179 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12180 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12181 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12184 @item nntp-xover-commands
12185 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12188 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12189 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12193 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12194 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12195 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12196 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12197 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12198 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12199 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12200 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12201 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12202 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12203 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12205 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12206 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12207 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12209 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12210 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12211 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12212 server closes connection.
12214 @item nntp-record-commands
12215 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12216 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12217 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12218 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12219 that doesn't seem to work.
12221 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12222 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12223 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12224 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12225 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12226 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12227 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12228 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12230 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12231 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12232 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12233 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12234 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12235 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12236 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12239 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12242 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12243 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12245 @item nntp-read-timeout
12246 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12247 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12248 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12249 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12250 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12253 @item nntp-list-options
12254 @vindex nntp-list-options
12255 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12256 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12257 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12258 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12259 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12263 (setq gnus-select-method
12264 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12265 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12268 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12269 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12270 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12271 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12272 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12273 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12274 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12277 (setq gnus-select-method
12278 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12279 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12282 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12283 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12284 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12285 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12286 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12287 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12288 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12291 (setq gnus-select-method
12292 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12293 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12298 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12299 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12300 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12304 @node Direct Functions
12305 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12306 @cindex direct connection functions
12308 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12309 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12310 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12311 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12314 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12315 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12316 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12319 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12320 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12321 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12322 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12323 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12324 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12325 define a server as follows:
12328 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12330 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12331 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12333 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12334 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12335 (nntp-port-number 563)
12336 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12339 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12340 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12341 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12342 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12343 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12344 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12345 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12346 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12350 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12351 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12352 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12355 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12356 session, which is not a good idea.
12360 @node Indirect Functions
12361 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12362 @cindex indirect connection functions
12364 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12365 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12366 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12367 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12368 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12369 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12372 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12373 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12374 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12375 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12376 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12378 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12381 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12382 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12383 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12384 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12386 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12387 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12388 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12389 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12390 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12391 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12392 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12393 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12396 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12397 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12398 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12399 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12401 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12404 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12405 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12406 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12409 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12410 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12411 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12412 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12414 @item nntp-via-user-password
12415 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12416 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12418 @item nntp-via-envuser
12419 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12420 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12421 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12422 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12424 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12425 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12426 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12427 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12434 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12439 @item nntp-via-user-name
12440 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12441 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12443 @item nntp-via-address
12444 @vindex nntp-via-address
12445 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12450 @node Common Variables
12451 @subsubsection Common Variables
12453 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12454 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12459 @item nntp-pre-command
12460 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12461 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12462 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12463 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12464 wrapper for instance.
12467 @vindex nntp-address
12468 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12470 @item nntp-port-number
12471 @vindex nntp-port-number
12472 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12473 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12474 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12475 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12477 @item nntp-end-of-line
12478 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12479 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12480 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12481 using a non native connection function.
12483 @item nntp-telnet-command
12484 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12485 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12486 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12487 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12489 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12490 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12491 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12498 @subsection News Spool
12502 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12503 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12504 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12507 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12508 anything else) as the address.
12510 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12511 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12512 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12513 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12517 @item nnspool-inews-program
12518 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12519 Program used to post an article.
12521 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12522 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12523 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12525 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12526 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12527 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12528 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12530 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12531 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12532 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12533 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12535 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12536 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12537 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12539 @item nnspool-active-file
12540 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12541 The name of the active file.
12543 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12544 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12545 The name of the group descriptions file.
12547 @item nnspool-history-file
12548 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12549 The name of the news history file.
12551 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12552 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12553 The name of the active date file.
12555 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12556 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12557 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12560 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12561 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12563 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12564 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12565 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12571 @section Getting Mail
12572 @cindex reading mail
12575 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12579 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12580 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12581 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12582 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12583 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12584 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12585 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12586 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12587 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12588 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12589 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12590 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12591 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12595 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12596 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12598 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12599 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12600 of a culture shock.
12602 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12603 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12605 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12606 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12607 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12608 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12610 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12612 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12613 deleted? How awful!
12615 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12616 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12617 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12618 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12621 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12622 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12623 they want to treat a message.
12625 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12626 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12627 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12628 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12629 archived somewhere else.
12631 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12632 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12633 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12634 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12635 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12637 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12638 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12639 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12641 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12642 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12645 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12646 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12647 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12648 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12649 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12651 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12652 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12653 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12654 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12655 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12656 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12660 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12661 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12663 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12664 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12665 and things will happen automatically.
12667 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12668 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12671 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12674 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12675 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12676 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12677 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12678 like any other group.
12680 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12683 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12684 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12685 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12689 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12690 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12691 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12694 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12695 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12696 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12699 @node Splitting Mail
12700 @subsection Splitting Mail
12701 @cindex splitting mail
12702 @cindex mail splitting
12704 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12705 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12706 to be split into groups.
12709 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12710 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12711 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12712 ("mail.other" "")))
12715 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12716 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12717 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12718 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12719 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12720 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12721 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12724 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12727 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12728 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12729 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12730 mail belongs in that group.
12732 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12733 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12734 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12735 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12736 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12737 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12739 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12740 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12741 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12742 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12743 thinks should carry this mail message.
12745 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12746 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12747 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12748 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12750 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12751 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12752 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12753 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12754 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12756 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12759 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12760 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12761 links. If that's the case for you, set
12762 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12763 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12765 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12766 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12767 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12768 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12769 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12770 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12773 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12774 Header lines longer than the value of
12775 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12778 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12779 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12780 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12781 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12782 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12783 can be turned off completely by binding
12784 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12785 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12787 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12788 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12789 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12790 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12791 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12792 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12793 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12796 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12797 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12798 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12799 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12800 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12801 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12802 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12803 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12804 month's rent money.
12808 @subsection Mail Sources
12810 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12811 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12815 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12816 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12817 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12821 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12822 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12824 @cindex mail server
12827 @cindex mail source
12829 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12830 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12835 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12838 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12839 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12840 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12843 The following mail source types are available:
12847 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12853 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12854 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12855 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12858 An example file mail source:
12861 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12864 Or using the default file name:
12870 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12871 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12872 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12875 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12879 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12882 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12886 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12889 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12891 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12894 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12898 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12899 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12900 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12901 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12902 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12903 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12904 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12905 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12906 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12907 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12909 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12910 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12911 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12912 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12918 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12922 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12926 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12927 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12928 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12929 predicate are considered.
12933 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12937 An example directory mail source:
12940 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12945 Get mail from a POP server.
12951 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12952 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12955 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12956 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12957 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12958 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12959 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12962 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12966 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12970 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12971 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12974 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12977 The valid format specifier characters are:
12981 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12982 included in this string.
12985 The name of the server.
12988 The port number of the server.
12991 The user name to use.
12994 The password to use.
12997 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12998 corresponding keywords.
13001 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13002 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13005 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13006 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13009 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13010 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13013 @item :authentication
13014 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13015 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13019 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13020 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13021 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13022 programs and libraries:
13026 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13027 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13028 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13030 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13031 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13036 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13037 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13041 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13042 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13044 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13045 default user name, and default fetcher:
13051 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13054 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13055 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13058 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13061 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13065 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13066 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13067 contains exactly one mail.
13073 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13074 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13077 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13078 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13080 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13081 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13082 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13085 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13086 from locking problems).
13090 Two example maildir mail sources:
13093 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13094 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13098 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13103 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13104 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13105 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13106 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13109 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13110 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13116 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13117 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13120 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13121 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13124 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13128 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13132 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13133 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13134 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13135 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13137 @item :authentication
13138 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13139 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13140 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13141 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13144 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13145 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
13146 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13152 The valid format specifier characters are:
13156 The name of the server.
13159 User name from `imap-default-user'.
13162 The port number of the server.
13165 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13166 corresponding keywords.
13169 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13170 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13173 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13174 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13175 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13176 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13177 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13178 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13181 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13182 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13183 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13184 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13187 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13188 after finishing the fetch.
13192 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13195 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13197 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13201 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13202 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13203 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13205 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13206 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13208 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13214 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13215 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13218 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13222 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13226 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13227 folder after finishing the fetch.
13231 An example webmail source:
13234 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13236 :password "secret")
13241 @item Common Keywords
13242 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13248 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13249 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13253 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13258 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13259 useful when you use local mail and news.
13264 @subsubsection Function Interface
13266 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13267 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13268 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13269 consider the following mail-source setting:
13272 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13273 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13276 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13277 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13278 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13279 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13280 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13282 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13285 @node Mail Source Customization
13286 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13288 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13289 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13293 @item mail-source-crash-box
13294 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13295 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13296 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13298 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13299 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13300 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13302 @item mail-source-directory
13303 @vindex mail-source-directory
13304 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13305 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13306 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13309 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13310 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13311 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13312 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13313 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13314 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13316 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13317 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13318 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13320 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13321 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13322 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13323 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13328 @node Fetching Mail
13329 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13331 @vindex mail-sources
13332 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13333 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13334 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13335 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13337 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13338 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13341 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13342 mail server, you'd say something like:
13347 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13348 :password "secret")))
13351 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13355 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13356 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13359 :password "secret")))
13363 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13364 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13365 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13366 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13367 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13368 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13372 @node Mail Back End Variables
13373 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13375 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13379 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13380 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13381 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13382 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13384 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13385 @item nnmail-split-hook
13386 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13387 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13388 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13389 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13390 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13391 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13392 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13393 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13394 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13397 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13398 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13399 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13400 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13401 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13402 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13403 starting to handle the new mail) and
13404 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13405 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13406 default file modes the new mail files get:
13409 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13410 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13412 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13413 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13416 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13417 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13418 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13419 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13420 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13421 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13422 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13424 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13425 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13426 @findex delete-file
13427 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13429 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13430 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13431 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13432 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13433 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13435 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13436 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13437 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13438 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13439 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13441 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13442 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13443 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13448 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13449 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13450 @cindex mail splitting
13451 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13453 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13454 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13455 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13456 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13457 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13458 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13460 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13463 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13464 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13465 ;; from real errors.
13466 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13468 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13469 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13470 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13471 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13472 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13473 ;; Other mailing lists...
13474 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13475 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13476 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13477 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13478 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13479 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13480 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13481 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13483 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13484 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13488 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13489 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13490 the five possible split syntaxes:
13495 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13496 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13500 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13501 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13502 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13503 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13504 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13505 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13506 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13507 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13510 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13511 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13512 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13513 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13516 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13517 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13520 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13521 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13524 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13525 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13526 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13527 function should return a @var{split}.
13530 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13531 body of the messages:
13534 (defun split-on-body ()
13536 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13537 (goto-char (point-min))
13538 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13542 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13543 when the @code{:} function is run.
13546 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13547 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13548 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13552 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13556 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13557 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13558 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13559 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13560 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13562 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13563 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13564 are expanded as specified by the variable
13565 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13566 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13569 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13570 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13571 when all this splitting is performed.
13573 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13574 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13575 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13578 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13581 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13582 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13584 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13585 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13586 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13587 groupings 1 through 9.
13589 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13590 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13591 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13592 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13593 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13594 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13595 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13596 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13597 it once per thread.
13599 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13600 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13601 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13604 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13605 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13607 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13608 ;; other splits go here
13612 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13613 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13614 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13615 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13616 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13617 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13618 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13619 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13620 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13621 unless the group name matches the regexp
13622 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13623 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13624 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13625 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13626 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13627 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13628 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13629 messages goes into the new group.
13631 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13632 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13633 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13634 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13635 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13639 @node Group Mail Splitting
13640 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13641 @cindex mail splitting
13642 @cindex group mail splitting
13644 @findex gnus-group-split
13645 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13646 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13647 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13648 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13649 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13650 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13651 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13652 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13654 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13655 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13656 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13657 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13659 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13660 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13661 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13662 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13663 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13664 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13665 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13667 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13668 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13669 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13670 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13671 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13672 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13673 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13675 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13676 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13677 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13678 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13679 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13680 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13681 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13682 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13683 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13684 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13685 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13686 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13687 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13689 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13694 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13695 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13697 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13698 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13699 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13700 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13702 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13705 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13706 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13707 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13710 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13711 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13712 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13716 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13717 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13718 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13722 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13725 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13726 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13727 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13728 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13729 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13730 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13731 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13732 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13733 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13735 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13736 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13737 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13738 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13739 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13740 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13741 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13742 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13743 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13745 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13746 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13747 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13748 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13749 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13750 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13753 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13756 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13757 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13758 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13759 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13760 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13763 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13764 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13765 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13766 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13768 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13769 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13770 @cindex incorporating old mail
13771 @cindex import old mail
13773 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13774 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13775 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13778 Doing so can be quite easy.
13780 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13781 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13782 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13783 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13784 your @code{nnml} groups.
13790 Go to the group buffer.
13793 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13794 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13797 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13800 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13801 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13804 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13805 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13808 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13809 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13810 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13811 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13812 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13814 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13815 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13816 using the new mail back end.
13819 @node Expiring Mail
13820 @subsection Expiring Mail
13821 @cindex article expiry
13823 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13824 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13825 different approach to mail reading.
13827 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13828 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13829 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13830 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13831 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13832 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13835 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13836 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13837 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13838 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13839 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13840 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13841 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13842 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13843 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13845 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13846 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13847 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13848 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13849 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13850 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13851 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13854 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13855 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13856 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13857 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13858 into its own group.)
13860 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13861 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13862 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13863 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13864 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13865 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13866 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13867 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13870 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13871 Groups that match the regular expression
13872 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13873 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13874 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13876 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13877 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13878 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13879 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13880 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13882 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13884 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13885 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13886 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13889 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13890 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13891 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13892 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13893 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13895 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13896 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13899 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13900 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13903 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13904 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13906 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13907 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13908 don't really mix very well.
13910 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13911 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13912 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13913 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13916 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13917 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13918 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13919 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13922 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13924 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13926 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13928 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13930 ((string= group "important")
13936 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13937 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13939 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13940 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13941 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13944 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13945 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13947 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13948 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13949 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13950 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13951 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13952 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13953 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13954 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13955 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13956 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13957 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13958 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13959 name or @code{delete}.
13961 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13963 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13966 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13967 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13968 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13969 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13970 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13973 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13974 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13975 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13976 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13977 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13980 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13981 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13982 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13983 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13984 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13985 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13987 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13988 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13989 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13990 easier for procmail users.
13992 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13993 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13994 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13995 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13996 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13997 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13998 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13999 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14000 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14001 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14002 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14003 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14004 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14007 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14009 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14010 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14011 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14012 auto-expire turned on.
14016 @subsection Washing Mail
14017 @cindex mail washing
14018 @cindex list server brain damage
14019 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14021 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14022 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14023 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14024 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14025 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14026 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14028 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14029 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14030 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14033 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14034 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14035 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14036 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14039 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14040 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14041 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14042 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14043 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14046 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14047 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14048 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14049 Emacs running on MS machines.
14053 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14054 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14055 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14056 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14059 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14060 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14061 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14062 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14064 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14065 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14066 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14067 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14068 into a feature by documenting it.)
14070 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14071 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14072 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14073 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14074 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14075 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14076 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14079 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14080 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14083 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14084 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14087 This can also be done non-destructively with
14088 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14090 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14091 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14092 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14094 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14095 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14097 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14098 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14099 @code{References} headers.
14103 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14104 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14105 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14109 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14110 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14111 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14118 @subsection Duplicates
14120 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14121 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14122 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14123 @cindex duplicate mails
14124 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14125 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14126 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14127 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14128 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14129 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14130 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14131 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14132 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14133 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14134 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14135 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14136 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14138 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14139 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14140 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14141 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14143 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14146 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14147 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14151 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14152 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14153 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14154 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14155 (any mail "mail.misc")
14162 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14163 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14168 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14169 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14170 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14171 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14172 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14175 @node Not Reading Mail
14176 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14178 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14179 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14180 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14182 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14183 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14184 mail, which should help.
14186 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14187 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14188 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14189 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14190 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14191 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14192 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14193 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14194 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14195 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14196 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14198 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14199 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14203 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14204 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14206 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14207 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14208 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14210 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14211 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14212 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14213 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14214 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14215 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14216 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14219 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14220 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14221 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14222 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14223 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14224 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14228 @node Unix Mail Box
14229 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14231 @cindex unix mail box
14233 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14234 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14235 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14236 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14237 which group it belongs in.
14239 Virtual server settings:
14242 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14243 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14244 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14247 @item nnmbox-active-file
14248 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14249 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14250 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14252 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14253 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14254 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14255 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14260 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14264 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14265 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14266 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14267 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14268 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14270 Virtual server settings:
14273 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14274 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14275 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14277 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14278 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14279 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14280 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14282 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14283 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14284 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14290 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14292 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14294 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14295 format. It should be used with some caution.
14297 @vindex nnml-directory
14298 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14299 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14300 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14301 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14303 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14306 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14307 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14308 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14309 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14310 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14311 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14312 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14313 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14315 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14316 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14317 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14318 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14320 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14322 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14323 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14324 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14325 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14326 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14327 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14328 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14329 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14332 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14333 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14334 them next time it starts.
14336 Virtual server settings:
14339 @item nnml-directory
14340 @vindex nnml-directory
14341 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14342 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14345 @item nnml-active-file
14346 @vindex nnml-active-file
14347 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14348 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14350 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14351 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14352 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14353 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14355 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14356 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14357 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14360 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14361 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14362 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14363 default is @code{nil}.
14365 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14366 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14367 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14369 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14370 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14371 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14373 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14374 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14375 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14376 default is @code{nil}.
14378 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14379 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14380 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14382 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14383 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14384 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14389 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14390 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14391 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14392 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14393 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14394 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14395 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14400 @subsubsection MH Spool
14402 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14404 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14405 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14406 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14407 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14409 Virtual server settings:
14412 @item nnmh-directory
14413 @vindex nnmh-directory
14414 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14415 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14418 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14419 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14420 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14424 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14425 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14426 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14427 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14428 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14429 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14430 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14435 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14437 @cindex mbox folders
14438 @cindex mail folders
14440 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14441 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14442 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14445 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14447 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14448 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14449 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14450 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14451 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14452 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14453 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14454 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14455 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14456 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14458 Virtual server settings:
14461 @item nnfolder-directory
14462 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14463 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14464 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14467 @item nnfolder-active-file
14468 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14469 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14471 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14472 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14473 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14474 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14476 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14477 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14478 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14481 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14482 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14483 @cindex backup files
14484 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14485 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14486 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14487 your @file{.emacs} file:
14490 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14491 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14493 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14496 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14497 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14498 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14499 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14500 extract some information from it before removing it.
14502 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14503 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14504 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14505 default is @code{nil}.
14507 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14508 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14509 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14511 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14512 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14513 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14514 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14516 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14517 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14518 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14519 default is @code{nil}.
14521 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14522 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14523 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14525 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14526 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14527 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14528 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14533 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14534 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14535 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14536 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14537 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14538 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14541 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14542 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14544 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14545 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14546 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14547 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14548 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14550 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14551 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14552 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14553 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14554 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14555 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14556 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14557 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14560 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14561 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14562 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14563 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14568 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14569 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14570 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14571 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14572 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14573 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14574 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14575 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14576 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14577 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14578 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14579 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14580 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14585 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14586 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14587 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14588 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14589 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14590 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14591 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14592 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14593 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14594 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14595 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14596 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14597 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14598 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14600 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14601 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14606 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14607 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14608 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14609 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14610 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14611 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14612 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14613 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14614 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14615 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14616 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14617 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14618 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14619 provided by the active file and overviews.
14621 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14622 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14623 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14624 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14625 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14628 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14629 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14634 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14635 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14636 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14637 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14638 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14639 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14640 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14644 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14645 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14646 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14647 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14648 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14649 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14650 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14651 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14652 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14654 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14655 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14656 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14657 friendly mail back end all over.
14661 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14662 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14663 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14664 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14665 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14666 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14667 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14668 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14671 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14672 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14673 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14674 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14675 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14676 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14677 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14678 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14679 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14680 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14681 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14683 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14684 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14685 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14686 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14687 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14688 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14689 This will probably be changed in the future.
14691 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14692 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14693 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14694 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14695 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14698 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14699 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14701 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14702 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14703 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14704 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14705 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14706 would) to make it use less memory.
14708 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14709 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14710 depending in part on your file system.
14712 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14713 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14718 @node Browsing the Web
14719 @section Browsing the Web
14721 @cindex browsing the web
14725 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14726 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14727 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14728 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14729 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14730 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14731 even know what a news group is.
14733 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14734 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14735 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14736 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14737 you mad in the end.
14739 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14742 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14743 interfaces to these sources.
14747 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14748 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14749 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14750 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14751 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14752 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14755 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14757 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14758 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14759 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14760 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14761 though, you should be ok.
14763 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14764 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14765 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14766 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14767 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14769 @node Archiving Mail
14770 @subsection Archiving Mail
14771 @cindex archiving mail
14772 @cindex backup of mail
14774 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14775 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14776 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14777 marks is fairly simple.
14779 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14780 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14783 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14784 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14785 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14786 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14787 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14788 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14789 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14790 before you restore the data.
14792 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14793 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14794 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14795 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14796 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14797 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14798 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14799 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14800 is unnecessary in that case.
14803 @subsection Web Searches
14808 @cindex Usenet searches
14809 @cindex searching the Usenet
14811 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14812 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14813 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14814 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14815 searches without having to use a browser.
14817 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14818 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14819 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14820 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14821 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14823 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14824 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14825 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14826 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14827 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14828 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14829 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14830 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14831 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14832 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14835 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14836 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14837 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14838 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14839 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14840 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14842 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14843 to use @code{nnweb}.
14845 Virtual server variables:
14850 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14851 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14852 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14855 @vindex nnweb-search
14856 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14858 @item nnweb-max-hits
14859 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14860 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14863 @item nnweb-type-definition
14864 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14865 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14866 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14871 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14875 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14878 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14881 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14885 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14892 @subsection Slashdot
14896 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14897 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14898 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14900 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14901 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14904 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14905 '((nnslashdot "")))
14908 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14909 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14910 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14911 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14912 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14915 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14916 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14918 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14919 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14920 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14921 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14922 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14923 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14926 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14929 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14930 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14931 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14932 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14933 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14934 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14935 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
14937 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14938 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14939 The login name to use when posting.
14941 @item nnslashdot-password
14942 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14943 The password to use when posting.
14945 @item nnslashdot-directory
14946 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14947 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14948 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14950 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14951 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14952 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14953 news articles and comments. The default is
14954 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14956 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14957 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14958 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14960 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14962 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14963 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14964 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14966 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14968 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14969 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14970 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14972 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14973 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14974 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14975 updated. The default is 0.
14982 @subsection Ultimate
14984 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14986 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14987 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14988 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14989 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14991 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14992 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14993 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14994 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14995 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14996 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14997 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14999 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15002 @item nnultimate-directory
15003 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15004 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15005 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
15010 @subsection Web Archive
15012 @cindex Web Archive
15014 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15015 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15016 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15017 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15020 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15021 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15022 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15023 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15024 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15025 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15026 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15027 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15029 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15032 @item nnwarchive-directory
15033 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15034 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15035 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
15037 @item nnwarchive-login
15038 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15039 The account name on the web server.
15041 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15042 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15043 The password for your account on the web server.
15051 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15052 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15053 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15056 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15057 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15060 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15063 @item nnrss-directory
15064 @vindex nnrss-directory
15065 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15066 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
15070 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15071 the summary buffer.
15074 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15075 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15077 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15079 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15080 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15083 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15086 (require 'browse-url)
15088 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15090 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15093 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15094 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15097 (browse-url (cdr url))
15098 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15099 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15101 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15102 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15103 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15104 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15107 @node Customizing w3
15108 @subsection Customizing w3
15114 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15115 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15116 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15118 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15119 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15120 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15123 (eval-after-load "w3"
15125 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15126 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15127 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15128 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15130 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15133 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15134 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15143 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
15144 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15145 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15146 specify the network address of the server.
15148 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15149 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15150 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15151 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15152 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15154 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15155 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15156 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15157 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15159 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15160 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15161 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15162 usage explained in this section.
15164 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15165 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15166 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15169 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15170 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15171 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15173 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15174 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15175 ; a UW server running on localhost
15177 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15178 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15179 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15180 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15181 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15182 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15183 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15184 (nnimap-stream network))
15185 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15187 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15188 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15189 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15192 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15193 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15194 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15195 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15197 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15202 @item nnimap-address
15203 @vindex nnimap-address
15205 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15206 server name if not specified.
15208 @item nnimap-server-port
15209 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15210 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15212 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15215 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15216 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15219 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15220 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15221 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15222 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15223 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15224 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15225 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15227 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15228 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15229 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15232 Example server specification:
15235 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15236 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15237 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15240 @item nnimap-stream
15241 @vindex nnimap-stream
15242 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15243 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15244 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15245 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15247 Example server specification:
15250 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15251 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15254 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15258 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15259 @samp{imtest} program.
15261 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15263 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15264 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15267 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15268 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15269 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15271 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15273 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15276 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15277 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15278 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15279 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15280 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15281 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15282 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15283 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15284 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15287 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15288 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15289 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15290 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15291 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15292 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15293 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15294 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15295 distribution, for instance).
15297 @vindex imap-shell-program
15298 @vindex imap-shell-host
15299 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15300 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15302 @item nnimap-authenticator
15303 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15305 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15306 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15308 Example server specification:
15311 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15312 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15315 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15319 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15320 external program @code{imtest}.
15322 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15325 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15326 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15328 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15330 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15332 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15335 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15337 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15338 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15339 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15340 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15341 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15342 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15345 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15346 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15347 running in circles yet?
15349 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15350 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15353 The possible options are:
15358 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15361 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15362 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15363 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15364 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15366 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15371 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15372 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15374 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15375 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15376 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15377 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15378 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15381 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15382 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15385 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15386 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15387 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15388 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15391 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15392 as ticked for other users.
15394 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15396 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15398 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15399 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15400 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15401 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15403 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15404 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15405 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15406 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15408 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15409 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15411 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15412 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15413 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15419 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15420 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15421 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15422 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15423 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15428 @node Splitting in IMAP
15429 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15430 @cindex splitting imap mail
15432 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15433 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15434 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15435 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15436 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15440 Here are the variables of interest:
15444 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15445 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15447 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15449 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15450 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15452 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15454 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15455 @cindex splitting, inbox
15457 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15459 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15460 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15464 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15465 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15468 No nnmail equivalent.
15470 @item nnimap-split-rule
15471 @cindex Splitting, rules
15472 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15474 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15477 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15478 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15479 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15480 Neither did I, we need examples.
15483 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15485 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15486 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15487 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15490 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15491 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15492 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15494 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15495 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15499 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15502 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15503 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15505 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15506 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15507 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15508 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15510 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15511 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15512 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15513 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15514 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15515 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15517 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15518 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15519 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15521 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15522 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15523 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15525 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15527 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15528 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15529 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15532 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15533 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15534 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15535 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15536 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15537 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15540 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15541 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15542 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15543 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15544 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15545 group/function elements.
15547 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15549 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15551 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15553 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15554 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15556 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15557 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15558 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15561 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15562 @cindex splitting, fancy
15563 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15564 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15566 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15567 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15568 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15570 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15571 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15572 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15573 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15578 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15579 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15582 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15584 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15585 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15586 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15588 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15589 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15590 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15591 analyses the body to split the article.
15595 @node Expiring in IMAP
15596 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15597 @cindex expiring imap mail
15599 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
15600 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
15601 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
15602 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
15603 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
15604 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
15607 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15608 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15609 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15610 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15611 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15612 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15613 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15614 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15618 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15619 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15621 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15622 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15624 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15626 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15627 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15628 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15629 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15633 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15634 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15635 @cindex editing imap acls
15636 @cindex Access Control Lists
15637 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15639 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15641 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15642 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15643 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15646 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15647 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15648 editing window with detailed instructions.
15650 Some possible uses:
15654 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15655 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15656 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15658 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15659 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15660 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15664 @node Expunging mailboxes
15665 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15669 @cindex Manual expunging
15671 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15673 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15674 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15675 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15677 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15680 @node A note on namespaces
15681 @subsection A note on namespaces
15682 @cindex IMAP namespace
15685 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15686 following text in the RFC:
15689 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15691 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15692 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15693 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15694 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15696 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15697 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15698 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15699 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15700 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15701 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15704 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15705 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15706 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15708 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15709 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15710 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15711 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15712 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15713 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15714 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15715 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15717 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15718 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15719 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15721 @node Other Sources
15722 @section Other Sources
15724 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15725 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15729 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15730 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15731 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15732 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15733 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15737 @node Directory Groups
15738 @subsection Directory Groups
15740 @cindex directory groups
15742 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15743 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15746 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15747 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15748 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15749 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15751 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15752 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15753 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15754 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15755 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15757 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15759 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15760 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15761 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15762 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15765 @node Anything Groups
15766 @subsection Anything Groups
15769 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15770 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15771 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15774 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15775 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15776 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15777 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15778 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15779 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15780 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15781 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15782 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15783 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15786 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15787 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15788 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15789 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15791 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15792 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15793 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15794 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15796 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15797 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15798 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15799 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15800 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15801 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15802 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15803 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15808 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15809 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15810 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15811 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15813 @item nneething-exclude-files
15814 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15815 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15816 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15818 @item nneething-include-files
15819 @vindex nneething-include-files
15820 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15821 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15823 @item nneething-map-file
15824 @vindex nneething-map-file
15825 Name of the map files.
15829 @node Document Groups
15830 @subsection Document Groups
15832 @cindex documentation group
15835 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15836 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15843 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15848 The standard Unix mbox file.
15850 @cindex MMDF mail box
15852 The MMDF mail box format.
15855 Several news articles appended into a file.
15858 @cindex rnews batch files
15859 The rnews batch transport format.
15860 @cindex forwarded messages
15863 Forwarded articles.
15866 Netscape mail boxes.
15869 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15871 @item standard-digest
15872 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15875 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15877 @item lanl-gov-announce
15878 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15880 @item rfc822-forward
15881 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15884 The Outlook mail box.
15887 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15890 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15893 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15896 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15902 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15905 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15911 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15912 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15913 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15916 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15917 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15918 group. And that's it.
15920 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15921 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15922 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15923 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15924 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15925 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15926 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15927 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15928 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15929 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15931 Virtual server variables:
15934 @item nndoc-article-type
15935 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15936 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15937 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15938 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15939 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15940 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15942 @item nndoc-post-type
15943 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15944 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15945 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15950 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15954 @node Document Server Internals
15955 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15957 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15958 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15959 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15960 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15962 First, here's an example document type definition:
15966 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15967 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15970 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15971 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15972 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15973 types can be defined with very few settings:
15976 @item first-article
15977 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15978 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15981 @item article-begin
15982 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15983 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15985 @item head-begin-function
15986 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15989 @item nndoc-head-begin
15990 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15993 @item nndoc-head-end
15994 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15995 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15997 @item body-begin-function
15998 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16002 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16005 @item body-end-function
16006 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16010 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16013 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16014 regexp will be totally ignored.
16018 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16019 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16020 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16021 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16022 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16025 @item prepare-body-function
16026 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16027 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16028 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16030 @item article-transform-function
16031 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16032 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16033 body of the article.
16035 @item generate-head-function
16036 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16037 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16038 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16039 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16043 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16048 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16049 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16050 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16051 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16052 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16053 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16054 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16055 (subtype digest guess))
16058 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16059 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16060 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16061 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16062 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16064 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16065 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
16066 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
16067 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
16068 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
16069 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16070 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
16071 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16072 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
16073 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16081 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16082 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16083 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16085 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16086 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16087 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16090 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16091 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16092 that interested in doing things properly.
16094 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16095 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16098 First some terminology:
16103 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16104 get news and/or mail from.
16107 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16108 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16111 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16115 @item message packets
16116 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16117 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16118 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16120 @item response packets
16121 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16122 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16123 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16133 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16134 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16135 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16136 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16139 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16142 You put the packet in your home directory.
16145 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16146 the native or secondary server.
16149 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16150 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16153 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16157 You transfer this packet to the server.
16160 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16163 You then repeat until you die.
16167 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16168 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16171 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16172 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16173 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16177 @node SOUP Commands
16178 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16180 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16184 @kindex G s b (Group)
16185 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16186 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16187 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16188 process/prefix convention.
16191 @kindex G s w (Group)
16192 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16193 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16196 @kindex G s s (Group)
16197 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16198 Send all replies from the replies packet
16199 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16202 @kindex G s p (Group)
16203 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16204 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16207 @kindex G s r (Group)
16208 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16209 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16212 @kindex O s (Summary)
16213 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16214 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16215 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16216 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16221 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16226 @item gnus-soup-directory
16227 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16228 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16229 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16231 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16232 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16233 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16234 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16236 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16237 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16238 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16239 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16241 @item gnus-soup-packer
16242 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16243 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16244 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16246 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16247 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16248 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16249 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16251 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16252 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16253 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16255 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16256 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16257 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16258 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16264 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16267 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16268 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16269 you can read them at leisure.
16271 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16275 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16276 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16277 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16278 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16280 @item nnsoup-directory
16281 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16282 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16283 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16285 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16286 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16287 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16288 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16290 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16291 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16292 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16293 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16294 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16296 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16297 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16298 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16299 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16301 @item nnsoup-active-file
16302 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16303 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16304 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16305 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16306 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16308 @item nnsoup-packer
16309 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16310 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16311 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16313 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16314 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16315 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16316 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16318 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16319 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16320 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16323 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16324 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16325 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16328 @item nnsoup-always-save
16329 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16330 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16336 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16338 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16339 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16340 more for that to happen.
16342 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16343 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16344 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16347 In specific, this is what it does:
16350 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16351 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16354 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16355 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16356 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16359 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16360 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16361 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16364 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16365 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16366 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16368 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16374 @item nngateway-address
16375 @vindex nngateway-address
16376 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16378 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16379 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16380 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16381 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16382 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16383 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16384 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16387 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16388 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16389 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16392 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16395 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16398 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16401 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16403 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16406 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16407 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16408 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16410 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16412 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16413 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16414 @code{nngateway-address}.
16419 (setq gnus-post-method
16421 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16422 (nngateway-header-transformation
16423 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16431 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16434 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16439 @node Combined Groups
16440 @section Combined Groups
16442 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16446 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16447 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16451 @node Virtual Groups
16452 @subsection Virtual Groups
16454 @cindex virtual groups
16455 @cindex merging groups
16457 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16460 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16461 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16462 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16464 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16465 regexp to match component groups.
16467 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16468 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16469 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16470 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16471 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16472 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16473 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16474 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16476 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16477 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16480 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16483 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16484 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16486 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16487 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16488 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16489 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16492 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16495 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16496 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16497 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16499 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16500 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16501 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16502 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16503 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16505 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16506 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16507 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16509 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16510 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16511 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16512 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16513 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16514 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16515 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16516 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16517 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16518 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16519 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16521 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16522 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16523 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16524 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16525 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16526 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16527 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16529 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16530 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16532 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16533 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16537 @node Kibozed Groups
16538 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16542 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16543 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16544 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16545 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16547 @kindex G k (Group)
16548 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16551 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16552 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16553 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16554 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16556 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16557 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16558 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16560 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16561 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16562 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16563 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16564 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16565 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16566 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16567 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16569 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16570 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16571 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16572 Stranger things have happened.
16574 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16575 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16577 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16578 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16579 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16580 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16581 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16582 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16584 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16585 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16588 @node Gnus Unplugged
16589 @section Gnus Unplugged
16594 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16596 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16597 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16598 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16599 read news. Believe it or not.
16601 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16602 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16603 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16604 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16605 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16607 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16608 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16609 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16610 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16611 reading news on a machine.
16613 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16614 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16616 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16619 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16620 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16621 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16622 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16623 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16624 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
16625 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16626 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16627 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16628 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16629 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16630 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16635 @subsection Agent Basics
16637 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16639 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16640 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16641 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16642 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16644 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16645 connected to the net continuously.
16647 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16648 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16650 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16655 @findex gnus-unplugged
16656 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16657 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16658 already fetched while in this mode.
16661 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16662 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16663 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16664 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16665 Source Specifiers}).
16668 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16669 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16670 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16671 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16672 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16675 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16676 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16677 then you read the news offline.
16680 And then you go to step 2.
16683 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16689 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16690 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16691 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16692 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16693 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16694 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16695 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16696 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16699 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16706 @node Agent Categories
16707 @subsection Agent Categories
16709 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16710 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16711 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16712 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16713 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16714 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16715 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16717 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16718 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16719 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16720 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16721 managing categories.
16724 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16725 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16726 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16730 @node Category Syntax
16731 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16733 A category consists of two things.
16737 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16738 are eligible for downloading; and
16741 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16742 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16743 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16746 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16747 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16748 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16749 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16751 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16752 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16753 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16755 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16756 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16757 operators sprinkled in between.
16759 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16761 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16762 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16768 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16769 short (for some value of ``short'').
16771 Here's a more complex predicate:
16780 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16781 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16784 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16785 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16786 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16788 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16789 you want to do, you can write your own.
16793 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16794 lines; default 100.
16797 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16798 lines; default 200.
16801 True iff the article has a download score less than
16802 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16805 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16806 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16809 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16810 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16811 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16820 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16821 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16822 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16825 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16826 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16827 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16828 something along the lines of the following:
16831 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16832 "Say whether an article is old."
16833 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16834 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16837 with the predicate then defined as:
16840 (not my-article-old-p)
16843 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16844 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16848 (require 'gnus-agent)
16849 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16850 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16851 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16854 and simply specify your predicate as:
16860 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16861 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16862 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16863 just don't give a damn.
16865 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16866 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16867 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16868 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16869 parameters like so:
16872 (agent-predicate . short)
16875 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16876 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16877 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16879 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16882 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16885 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16886 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16887 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16890 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16891 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16892 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16893 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16894 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16895 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16897 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16898 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16899 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16900 if it's to be specific to that group.
16902 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16909 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16910 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16916 Category specification
16920 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16926 Group Parameter specification
16929 (agent-score ("from"
16930 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16935 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16941 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16948 Category specification
16951 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16957 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16961 Group Parameter specification
16964 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16967 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16972 Use @code{normal} score files
16974 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16975 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16976 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16977 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16979 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16980 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16981 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16982 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16986 Category Specification
16993 Group Parameter specification
16996 (agent-score . file)
17001 @node Category Buffer
17002 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17004 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17005 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17006 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17008 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17012 @kindex q (Category)
17013 @findex gnus-category-exit
17014 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17017 @kindex k (Category)
17018 @findex gnus-category-kill
17019 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17022 @kindex c (Category)
17023 @findex gnus-category-copy
17024 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17027 @kindex a (Category)
17028 @findex gnus-category-add
17029 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17032 @kindex p (Category)
17033 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17034 Edit the predicate of the current category
17035 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17038 @kindex g (Category)
17039 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17040 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17041 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17044 @kindex s (Category)
17045 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17046 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17047 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17050 @kindex l (Category)
17051 @findex gnus-category-list
17052 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17056 @node Category Variables
17057 @subsubsection Category Variables
17060 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17061 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17062 Hook run in category buffers.
17064 @item gnus-category-line-format
17065 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17066 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17067 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17071 The name of the category.
17074 The number of groups in the category.
17077 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17078 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17079 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17081 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17082 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17083 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17085 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17086 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17087 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17089 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17090 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17091 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17094 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17095 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17096 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17102 @node Agent Commands
17103 @subsection Agent Commands
17104 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17105 @kindex J j (Agent)
17107 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17108 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17109 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17113 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17114 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17115 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17121 @node Group Agent Commands
17122 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17126 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17127 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17128 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17129 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17132 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17133 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17134 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17137 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17138 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17139 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17140 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17143 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17144 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17145 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17146 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17149 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17150 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17151 Add the current group to an Agent category
17152 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17153 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17156 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17157 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17158 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17159 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17160 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17163 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17164 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17165 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17171 @node Summary Agent Commands
17172 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17176 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17177 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17178 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17181 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17182 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17183 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17184 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17188 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17189 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17190 Toggle whether to download the article
17191 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17195 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17196 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17197 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17200 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17201 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17202 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17203 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17206 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17207 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17208 Download all processable articles in this group.
17209 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17212 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17213 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17214 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17215 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17220 @node Server Agent Commands
17221 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17225 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17226 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17227 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17228 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17231 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17232 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17233 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17234 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17239 @node Agent as Cache
17240 @subsection Agent as Cache
17242 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17243 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17244 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17245 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17246 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17247 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17248 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17249 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17250 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17252 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17253 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17256 @subsection Agent Expiry
17258 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17259 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17260 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17261 @cindex Agent expiry
17262 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17265 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17266 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17267 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17268 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17269 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17270 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17272 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17273 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17274 synchronized with the group.
17276 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17277 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17278 expiry in different groups.
17281 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17287 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17288 method---it must always match all groups. Also, for a regexp to match,
17289 it must match from the beginning of the group's name.
17291 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17292 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17293 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17294 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17295 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17297 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17298 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17299 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17301 @node Agent Regeneration
17302 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17304 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17305 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17306 @cindex regeneration
17308 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17309 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17310 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17311 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17312 internal inconsistencies.
17314 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17315 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17316 know about articles downloaded prior to the connection failure.
17317 Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17318 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17319 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17321 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17322 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17323 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17324 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17325 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17326 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17328 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17329 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17330 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17331 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17332 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17333 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17336 @node Agent and IMAP
17337 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17339 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17340 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17341 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17342 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17344 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17345 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17346 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17347 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17349 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17350 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17351 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17352 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17354 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17355 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17356 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17357 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17358 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17359 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17361 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17362 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17363 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17364 in the group buffer.
17366 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17367 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17372 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17375 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17379 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17380 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17381 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17382 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17383 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17384 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17385 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17386 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17389 @node Outgoing Messages
17390 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17392 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17393 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17394 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17396 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17397 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17398 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17399 messages in the draft group.
17403 @node Agent Variables
17404 @subsection Agent Variables
17407 @item gnus-agent-directory
17408 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17409 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17410 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17412 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17413 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17414 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17415 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17416 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17419 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17420 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17421 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17423 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17424 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17425 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17427 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17428 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17429 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17431 @item gnus-agent-cache
17432 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17433 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17434 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17435 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17437 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17438 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17439 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17440 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17441 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17442 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17443 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17446 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17447 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17448 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
17449 mark articles as unread after downloading. The default is t.
17451 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17452 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17453 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
17454 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
17455 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
17457 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17458 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17459 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
17460 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
17461 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
17462 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
17463 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
17464 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
17465 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
17466 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
17467 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
17468 available while unplugged).
17470 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17471 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17472 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17473 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17474 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17475 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17476 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17477 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17478 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17483 @node Example Setup
17484 @subsection Example Setup
17486 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17487 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17488 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17491 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17492 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17493 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17495 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17496 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17497 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17499 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17500 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17502 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17503 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17504 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17507 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17508 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17511 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17512 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17513 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17514 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17515 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17518 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17519 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17520 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17521 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17522 back all the killed groups.)
17524 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17525 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17526 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17529 @node Batching Agents
17530 @subsection Batching Agents
17531 @findex gnus-agent-batch
17533 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17534 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17535 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17537 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17538 following incantation:
17542 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17546 @node Agent Caveats
17547 @subsection Agent Caveats
17549 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17550 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17554 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17556 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
17557 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
17558 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
17560 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17562 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17566 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17567 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
17568 locally stored articles.
17575 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17576 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17577 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17580 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17581 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17582 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17583 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17584 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17586 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17587 before generating the summary buffer.
17589 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17590 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17591 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17593 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17594 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17595 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17596 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17599 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17600 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17601 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17602 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17603 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17604 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17605 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17606 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17607 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17608 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17609 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17610 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17611 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17612 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17613 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17614 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17615 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17619 @node Summary Score Commands
17620 @section Summary Score Commands
17621 @cindex score commands
17623 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17624 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17625 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17626 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17627 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17629 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17630 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17631 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17632 score file the current one.
17634 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17639 @kindex V s (Summary)
17640 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17641 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17644 @kindex V S (Summary)
17645 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17646 Display the score of the current article
17647 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17650 @kindex V t (Summary)
17651 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17652 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17653 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17656 @kindex V w (Summary)
17657 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17658 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17661 @kindex V R (Summary)
17662 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17663 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17664 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17665 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17666 effect you're having.
17669 @kindex V c (Summary)
17670 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17671 Make a different score file the current
17672 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17675 @kindex V e (Summary)
17676 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17677 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17678 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17682 @kindex V f (Summary)
17683 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17684 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17685 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17688 @kindex V F (Summary)
17689 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17690 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17691 after editing score files.
17694 @kindex V C (Summary)
17695 @findex gnus-score-customize
17696 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17697 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17701 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17706 @kindex V m (Summary)
17707 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17708 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17709 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17712 @kindex V x (Summary)
17713 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17714 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17715 expunge all articles below this score
17716 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17719 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17720 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17723 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17724 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17728 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17729 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17731 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17732 keys are available:
17736 Score on the author name.
17739 Score on the subject line.
17742 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17745 Score on the @code{References} line.
17751 Score on the number of lines.
17754 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17757 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17758 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17761 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17762 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17763 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17772 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17778 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17779 what headers you are scoring on.
17791 Substring matching.
17794 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17823 Greater than number.
17828 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17829 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17830 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17835 Temporary score entry.
17838 Permanent score entry.
17841 Immediately scoring.
17845 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17846 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17847 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17851 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17852 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17853 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17854 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17856 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17857 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17858 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17859 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17860 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17862 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17863 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17864 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17865 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17866 current score file.
17868 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17869 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17870 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17873 @node Group Score Commands
17874 @section Group Score Commands
17875 @cindex group score commands
17877 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17882 @kindex W f (Group)
17883 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17884 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17885 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17886 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17890 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17892 @findex gnus-batch-score
17893 @cindex batch scoring
17895 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17899 @node Score Variables
17900 @section Score Variables
17901 @cindex score variables
17905 @item gnus-use-scoring
17906 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17907 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17908 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17910 @item gnus-kill-killed
17911 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17912 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17913 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17914 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17915 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17916 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17917 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17919 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17920 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17921 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17922 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17923 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17925 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17926 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17927 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17928 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17930 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17931 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17932 @cindex score cache
17933 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17934 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17935 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
17936 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17937 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17938 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17941 @item gnus-save-score
17942 @vindex gnus-save-score
17943 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17944 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17945 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17947 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17948 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17949 across group visits.
17951 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17952 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17953 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17954 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17955 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17956 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17957 manually entered data.
17959 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17960 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17961 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17963 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17964 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17965 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17966 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17967 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17968 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17970 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17971 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17972 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17973 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17975 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17976 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17977 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17978 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17980 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17981 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17982 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17983 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17985 Predefined functions available are:
17988 @item gnus-score-find-single
17989 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17990 Only apply the group's own score file.
17992 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17993 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17994 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17995 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17996 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17997 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17998 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17999 then a regexp match is done.
18001 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18002 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18004 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18005 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18006 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18007 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18009 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18010 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18011 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18012 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18013 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18017 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18018 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18019 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18020 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18021 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18022 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18023 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18026 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18027 overall score file, you could use the value
18029 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18030 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18033 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18034 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18035 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18036 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18037 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18039 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18040 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18041 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18042 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18043 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18044 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18045 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18046 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18048 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18049 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18050 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18052 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18053 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18054 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18055 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18056 threading---according to the current value of
18057 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18058 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18059 simplified in this manner.
18064 @node Score File Format
18065 @section Score File Format
18066 @cindex score file format
18068 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18069 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18070 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18072 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18076 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18078 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18080 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18082 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18087 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18091 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18092 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18093 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18094 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18098 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18099 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18101 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18102 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18103 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18105 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18110 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18111 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18112 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18113 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18114 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18115 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18116 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18117 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18118 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18119 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18120 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18121 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18122 to articles that matches these score entries.
18124 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18125 score entry has one to four elements.
18129 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18130 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18134 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18135 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18136 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18137 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18138 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18139 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18142 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18143 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18144 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18145 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18146 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18149 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18150 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18151 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18152 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18155 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18156 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18157 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18158 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18159 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18160 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18161 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18162 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18163 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18164 instead, if you feel like.
18167 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18168 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18169 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18170 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18171 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18172 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18175 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18179 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18180 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18182 These predicates are true if
18185 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18188 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18189 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18196 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18197 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18198 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18199 it's not. I think.)
18201 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18202 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18203 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18204 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18207 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18208 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18209 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18210 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18211 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18212 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18213 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18217 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18218 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18219 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18220 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18221 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18222 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18223 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18224 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18227 @item Head, Body, All
18228 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18232 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18233 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18234 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18235 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18236 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18237 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18238 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18242 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18243 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18244 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18245 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18246 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18247 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18248 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18249 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18250 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18251 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18252 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18256 @cindex Score File Atoms
18258 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18259 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18262 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18263 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18265 @item mark-and-expunge
18266 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18267 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18270 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18271 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18272 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18273 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18274 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18277 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18278 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18281 @item exclude-files
18282 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18283 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18287 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18288 ignored when handling global score files.
18291 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18292 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18293 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18294 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18297 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18298 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18299 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18300 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18302 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18306 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18309 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18310 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18311 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18312 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18313 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18315 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18316 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18317 scoring rules exist.
18320 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18321 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18322 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18323 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18324 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18325 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18326 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18327 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18328 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18329 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18330 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18334 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18335 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18336 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18337 file for a number of groups.
18340 @cindex local variables
18341 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18342 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18343 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18344 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18345 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18349 @node Score File Editing
18350 @section Score File Editing
18352 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18353 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18354 with a mode for that.
18356 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18357 additional commands:
18362 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18363 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18364 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18365 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18368 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18369 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18370 Insert the current date in numerical format
18371 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18372 you were wondering.
18375 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18376 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18377 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18378 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18379 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18384 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18386 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18387 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18389 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18390 e} to begin editing score files.
18393 @node Adaptive Scoring
18394 @section Adaptive Scoring
18395 @cindex adaptive scoring
18397 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18398 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18399 stupidity, to be precise.
18401 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18402 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18403 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18404 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18405 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18406 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18407 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18408 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18409 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18411 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18412 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18413 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18414 might look something like this:
18417 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18418 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18419 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18420 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18421 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18422 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18423 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18424 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18425 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18426 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18427 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18428 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18431 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18432 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18433 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18434 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18435 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18436 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18439 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18440 will be applied to each article.
18442 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18443 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18444 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18445 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18447 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18448 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18449 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18450 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18452 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18453 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18454 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18455 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18457 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18458 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18459 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18460 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18461 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18462 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18464 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18465 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18466 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18468 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18469 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18470 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18472 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18473 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18474 let you use different rules in different groups.
18476 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18477 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18478 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18481 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18482 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18483 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18484 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18485 the length of the match is less than
18486 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18487 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18490 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18491 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18492 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18493 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18494 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18497 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18498 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18499 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18500 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18501 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18504 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18505 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18506 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18507 score with 30 points.
18509 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18510 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18511 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18512 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18513 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18515 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18516 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18517 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18518 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18519 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18521 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18522 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18523 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18524 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18526 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18527 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18528 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18529 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18531 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18532 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18533 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18534 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18535 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18537 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18538 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18539 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18541 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18542 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18543 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18544 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18547 @node Home Score File
18548 @section Home Score File
18550 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18551 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18552 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18553 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18555 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18556 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18557 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18559 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18560 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18565 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18569 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18570 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18574 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18578 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18579 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18582 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18583 the home score file.
18586 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18589 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18594 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18597 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18598 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18601 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18602 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18604 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18606 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18607 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18610 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18611 Other functions include
18614 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18615 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18616 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18617 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18621 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18622 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18623 their own home score files:
18626 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18627 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18628 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18629 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18630 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18633 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18634 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18635 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18636 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18637 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18639 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18640 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18641 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18642 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18643 precedence over this variable.
18646 @node Followups To Yourself
18647 @section Followups To Yourself
18649 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18650 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18651 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18652 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18653 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18654 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18658 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18659 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18660 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18663 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18664 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18665 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18669 @vindex message-sent-hook
18670 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18671 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18673 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18677 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18678 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18682 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18683 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18686 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18687 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18692 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18696 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18697 is system-dependent.
18700 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18701 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18702 @cindex scoring on other headers
18704 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18705 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18706 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18707 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18708 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18710 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18711 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18712 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18713 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18714 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18716 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18719 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18720 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18723 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18724 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18725 time if you have much mail.
18727 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18728 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18734 @section Scoring Tips
18735 @cindex scoring tips
18741 @cindex scoring crossposts
18742 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18743 the @code{Xref} header.
18745 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18748 @item Multiple crossposts
18749 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18750 more than, say, 3 groups:
18753 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18757 @item Matching on the body
18758 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18759 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18760 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18761 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18762 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18763 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18764 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18767 @item Marking as read
18768 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18769 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18770 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18774 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18776 @item Negated character classes
18777 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18778 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18779 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18783 @node Reverse Scoring
18784 @section Reverse Scoring
18785 @cindex reverse scoring
18787 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18788 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18789 like this in your score file:
18793 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18798 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18799 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18802 @node Global Score Files
18803 @section Global Score Files
18804 @cindex global score files
18806 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18807 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18808 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18810 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18811 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18812 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18814 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18815 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18816 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18817 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18818 files are applicable to which group.
18820 To use the score file
18821 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18822 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18826 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18827 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18828 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18831 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18833 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18834 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18835 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18836 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18838 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18839 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18841 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18842 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18843 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18844 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18845 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18846 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18848 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18854 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18856 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18858 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18860 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18861 lowered out of existence.
18863 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18864 articles completely.
18867 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18868 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18869 old articles for a long time.
18872 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18873 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18874 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18875 holding our breath yet?
18879 @section Kill Files
18882 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18883 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18884 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18886 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18887 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18888 files into score files.
18890 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18891 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18892 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18893 that isn't a very good idea.
18895 Normal kill files look like this:
18898 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18899 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18903 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18904 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18906 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18907 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18910 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18915 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18916 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18917 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18920 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18921 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18922 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18925 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18930 @kindex M-k (Group)
18931 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18932 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18935 @kindex M-K (Group)
18936 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18937 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18940 Kill file variables:
18943 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18944 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18945 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18946 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18947 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18948 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18949 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18951 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18952 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18953 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18954 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18957 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18958 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18959 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18960 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18961 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18962 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18963 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18964 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18965 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18967 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18968 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18969 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18974 @node Converting Kill Files
18975 @section Converting Kill Files
18977 @cindex converting kill files
18979 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18980 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18981 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18984 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18985 You can fetch it from
18986 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18988 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18989 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18990 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18998 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18999 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19000 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19001 news articles generated every day.
19003 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19004 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19005 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19006 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19007 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19008 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19009 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19010 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19013 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19014 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19017 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19018 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19019 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19020 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19024 @node Using GroupLens
19025 @subsection Using GroupLens
19027 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19029 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19030 better bit in town at the moment.
19032 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19036 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19037 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19038 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19039 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19041 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19042 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19043 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19044 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19046 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19047 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19048 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19052 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19053 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19054 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19055 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19056 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19057 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19060 @node Rating Articles
19061 @subsection Rating Articles
19063 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19064 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19065 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19066 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19069 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19074 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19075 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19076 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19079 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19080 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19081 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19082 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19083 threads in rec.humor.
19087 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19088 the score of the article you're reading.
19093 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19094 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19095 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19098 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19099 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19100 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19104 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19105 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19108 @node Displaying Predictions
19109 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19111 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19112 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19113 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19114 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19115 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19117 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19118 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19119 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19120 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19121 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19122 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19123 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19124 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19125 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19126 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19127 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19128 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19129 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19131 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19132 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19133 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19134 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19136 The following are valid values for that variable.
19139 @item prediction-spot
19140 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19143 @item confidence-interval
19144 A numeric confidence interval.
19146 @item prediction-bar
19147 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19149 @item confidence-bar
19150 Numerical confidence.
19152 @item confidence-spot
19153 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19155 @item prediction-num
19156 Plain-old numeric value.
19158 @item confidence-plus-minus
19159 Prediction +/- confidence.
19164 @node GroupLens Variables
19165 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19169 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19170 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19171 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19172 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19175 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19176 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19179 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19180 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19182 @item grouplens-score-offset
19183 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19184 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19187 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19188 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19189 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19194 @node Advanced Scoring
19195 @section Advanced Scoring
19197 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19198 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19199 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19200 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19201 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19203 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19207 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19208 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19209 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19213 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19214 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19216 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19217 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19218 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19219 non-@code{nil} value.
19221 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19222 operator, and various match operators.
19229 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19230 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19231 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19236 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19237 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19238 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19243 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19244 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19248 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19249 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19250 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19251 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19252 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19253 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19254 the ancestry you want to go.
19256 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19257 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19258 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19259 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19260 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19263 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19264 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19266 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19267 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19270 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19271 when he's talking about Gnus:
19275 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19276 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19282 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19286 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19293 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19294 really don't want to read what he's written:
19298 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19299 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19303 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19304 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19305 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19312 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19313 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19314 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19315 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19319 The possibilities are endless.
19322 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19323 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19325 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19326 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19327 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19328 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19329 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19330 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19331 @samp{subject}) first.
19333 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19334 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19345 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19346 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19352 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19359 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19360 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19365 @section Score Decays
19366 @cindex score decays
19369 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19370 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19371 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19372 use them in any sensible way.
19374 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19375 @findex gnus-decay-score
19376 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19377 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19378 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19379 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19380 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19381 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19382 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19383 definition of that function:
19386 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19388 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19389 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19392 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19394 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19396 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19399 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19400 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19401 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19402 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19406 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19409 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19412 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19416 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19417 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19418 the new score, which should be an integer.
19420 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19421 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19426 @include message.texi
19427 @chapter Emacs MIME
19428 @include emacs-mime.texi
19430 @include sieve.texi
19432 @c @include pgg.texi
19440 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19441 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19442 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19443 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19444 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19445 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19446 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19447 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19448 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19449 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19450 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19451 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19452 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19453 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19454 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19455 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19456 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19457 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19458 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19462 @node Process/Prefix
19463 @section Process/Prefix
19464 @cindex process/prefix convention
19466 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19467 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19469 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19470 command to be performed on.
19474 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19475 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19476 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19477 with the current one.
19479 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19480 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19481 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19483 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19484 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19487 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19488 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19490 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19493 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19494 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19495 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19496 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19498 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19499 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19500 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19501 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19502 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19503 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19504 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19505 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19507 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19508 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19509 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19510 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19511 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19515 @section Interactive
19516 @cindex interaction
19520 @item gnus-novice-user
19521 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19522 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19523 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19524 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19525 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19528 @item gnus-expert-user
19529 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19530 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19531 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19532 matter how strange.
19534 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19535 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19536 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19537 is @code{t} by default.
19539 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19540 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19541 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19546 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19547 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19548 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19550 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19551 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19552 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19553 rule of 900 to the current article.
19555 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19556 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19557 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19558 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19559 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19560 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19561 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19563 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19564 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19565 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19566 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19567 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19568 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19569 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19570 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19571 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19573 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19574 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19575 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19577 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19581 @node Formatting Variables
19582 @section Formatting Variables
19583 @cindex formatting variables
19585 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19586 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19587 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19588 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19589 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19592 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19593 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19594 lots of percentages everywhere.
19597 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19598 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19599 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19600 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19601 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19602 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19603 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19604 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19607 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19608 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19609 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19610 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19611 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19612 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19613 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19614 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19616 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19617 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19619 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19620 @findex gnus-update-format
19621 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19622 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19623 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19624 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19628 @node Formatting Basics
19629 @subsection Formatting Basics
19631 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19632 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19633 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19635 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19636 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19637 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19638 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19639 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19642 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19643 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19644 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19645 less than 4 characters wide.
19647 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19648 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19651 @node Mode Line Formatting
19652 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19654 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19655 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19656 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19657 with the following two differences:
19662 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19665 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19666 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19667 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19668 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19669 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19670 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19671 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19676 @node Advanced Formatting
19677 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19679 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19680 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19681 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19682 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19684 These are the valid modifiers:
19689 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19693 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19698 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19701 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19706 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19709 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19712 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19715 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19721 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19726 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19727 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19728 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19729 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19730 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19731 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19732 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19734 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19735 last operation, padding.
19737 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19738 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
19739 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
19740 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
19741 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
19742 the look of your lines.
19743 @xref{Compilation}.
19746 @node User-Defined Specs
19747 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19749 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19750 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19751 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19752 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19753 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19754 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19755 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19756 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19757 should protect against that.
19759 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19760 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19762 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19763 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19764 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19765 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19769 @node Formatting Fonts
19770 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19772 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19773 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19774 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19775 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19778 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19779 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19780 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19781 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19782 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19783 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19785 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19786 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19787 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19788 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19789 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19790 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19791 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19792 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19793 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19794 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19796 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19799 ;; Create three face types.
19800 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19801 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19803 ;; We want the article count to be in
19804 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19805 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19806 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19808 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19809 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19811 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19812 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19813 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19816 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19817 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19819 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19820 mode-line variables.
19822 @node Positioning Point
19823 @subsection Positioning Point
19825 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19826 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19827 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19829 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19831 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19832 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19833 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19835 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19836 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
19837 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19842 @subsection Tabulation
19844 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19845 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19846 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19847 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19849 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19850 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19852 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19853 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19854 This is the soft tabulator.
19856 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19857 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19858 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19861 @node Wide Characters
19862 @subsection Wide Characters
19864 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19865 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19866 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19868 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19869 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19870 these countries, that's not true.
19872 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19873 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19874 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19875 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19879 @node Window Layout
19880 @section Window Layout
19881 @cindex window layout
19883 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19885 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19886 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19887 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19888 @code{t} by default.
19890 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19891 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19893 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19894 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19895 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19898 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19899 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19900 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19904 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19905 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19906 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19907 possible names is listed below.
19909 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19910 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19913 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19917 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19918 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19919 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19920 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19921 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19922 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19923 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19924 size spec per split.
19926 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19927 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19928 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19929 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19930 present) gets focus.
19932 Here's a more complicated example:
19935 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19936 (summary 0.25 point)
19937 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19941 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19942 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19943 occupy, not a percentage.
19945 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19946 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19947 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19948 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19949 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19952 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19955 (article (horizontal 1.0
19960 (summary 0.25 point)
19965 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19966 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19968 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19969 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19970 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19971 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19972 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19974 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19975 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19976 lines from the splits.
19978 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19982 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19983 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19984 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19985 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19986 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19987 size = number | frame-params
19988 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19991 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19992 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19993 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19994 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19996 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19997 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19998 @cindex window height
19999 @cindex window width
20000 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20001 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20002 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20003 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20004 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20005 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20007 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20008 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20009 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20010 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20012 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20013 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20014 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20015 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20016 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20017 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20018 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20019 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20020 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20021 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20022 configuration list.
20025 (gnus-configure-frame
20029 (article 0.3 point))
20037 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20038 @code{frame} split:
20041 (gnus-configure-frame
20044 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20046 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20047 (user-position . t)
20048 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20053 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20054 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20055 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20056 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20057 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20058 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20059 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20060 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20062 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20063 be found in its default value.
20065 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20066 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20067 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20071 (message (horizontal 1.0
20072 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20074 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20079 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20080 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20081 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20086 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20087 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20088 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20089 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20090 (name . "Message"))
20091 (message 1.0 point))))
20094 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20095 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20096 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20097 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20098 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20101 (gnus-add-configuration
20102 '(article (vertical 1.0
20104 (summary .25 point)
20108 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20109 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20110 Gnus has been loaded.
20112 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20113 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20114 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20115 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20116 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20118 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20119 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20120 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20123 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20127 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20128 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20143 (gnus-add-configuration
20146 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20148 (summary 0.16 point)
20151 (gnus-add-configuration
20154 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20155 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20161 @node Faces and Fonts
20162 @section Faces and Fonts
20167 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20168 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20169 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20174 @section Compilation
20175 @cindex compilation
20176 @cindex byte-compilation
20178 @findex gnus-compile
20180 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20181 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20182 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20183 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20184 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20185 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20186 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20187 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20190 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20191 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20192 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20193 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20194 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20197 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20198 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20199 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20200 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20201 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20206 @section Mode Lines
20209 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20210 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20211 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20212 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20213 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20214 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20215 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20218 @cindex display-time
20220 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20221 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20222 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20223 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20224 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20225 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20226 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20227 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20230 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20232 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20233 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20235 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20236 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20237 (length display-time-string)))))
20240 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20241 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20242 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20243 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20244 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20247 @node Highlighting and Menus
20248 @section Highlighting and Menus
20250 @cindex highlighting
20253 @vindex gnus-visual
20254 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20255 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20256 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20259 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20260 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20263 @item group-highlight
20264 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20265 @item summary-highlight
20266 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20267 @item article-highlight
20268 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20270 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20272 Create menus in the group buffer.
20274 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20276 Create menus in the article buffer.
20278 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20280 Create menus in the server buffer.
20282 Create menus in the score buffers.
20284 Create menus in all buffers.
20287 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20288 buffers, you could say something like:
20291 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20294 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20297 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20300 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20301 in all Gnus buffers.
20303 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20306 @item gnus-mouse-face
20307 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20308 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20309 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20313 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20317 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20318 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20319 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20321 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20322 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20323 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20325 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20326 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20327 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20329 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20330 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20331 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20333 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20334 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20335 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20337 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20338 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20339 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20350 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20351 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20352 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20353 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20354 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20358 @vindex gnus-carpal
20359 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20360 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20361 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20366 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20367 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20368 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20370 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20371 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20372 Face used on buttons.
20374 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20375 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20376 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20378 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20379 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20380 Buttons in the group buffer.
20382 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20383 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20384 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20386 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20387 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20388 Buttons in the server buffer.
20390 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20391 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20392 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20395 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20396 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20397 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20405 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20406 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20407 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20408 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20409 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20411 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20412 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20413 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20415 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20416 been idle for thirty minutes:
20419 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20422 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20426 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20429 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20430 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20431 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20433 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20434 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20435 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20436 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20438 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20439 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20440 @var{idle} minutes.
20442 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20443 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20446 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20447 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20448 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20450 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20451 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20452 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20453 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20455 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20456 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20458 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20460 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20463 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20464 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20465 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20466 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20467 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20468 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20469 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20470 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20471 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20472 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20473 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20475 @findex gnus-demon-init
20476 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20477 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20478 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20479 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20480 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20482 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20483 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20484 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20493 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20494 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20496 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20497 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20498 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20499 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20502 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20503 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20504 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20505 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20507 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20508 this will make spam disappear.
20510 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20513 @item gnus-use-nocem
20514 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20515 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20518 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20519 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20520 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20521 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20522 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20524 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20525 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20526 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20527 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20528 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20529 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20531 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20532 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20534 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20535 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20536 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20537 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20538 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20539 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20540 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20541 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20542 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20543 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20545 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20546 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20549 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20552 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20553 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20556 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20559 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20562 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20563 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20565 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20566 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20567 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20568 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20570 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20571 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20574 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20576 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20584 This might be dangerous, though.
20586 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20587 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20588 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20589 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20591 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20592 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20593 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20594 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20595 might then see old spam.
20597 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20598 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20599 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20600 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20601 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20604 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20605 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20606 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20607 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20611 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20612 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20613 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20614 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20621 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20622 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20623 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20625 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20626 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20627 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20628 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20629 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20630 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20631 @code{undo} function.
20633 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20634 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20635 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20636 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20637 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20638 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20639 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20640 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20641 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20642 never be totally undoable.
20644 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20645 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20647 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20648 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20649 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20650 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20654 @node Predicate Specifiers
20655 @section Predicate Specifiers
20656 @cindex predicate specifiers
20658 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20659 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20660 to type all that much.
20662 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20667 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20668 gnus-article-unread-p)
20671 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20672 functions all take one parameter.
20674 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20675 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20676 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20677 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20682 @section Moderation
20685 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20686 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20687 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20690 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20694 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20697 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20699 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20704 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20705 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20706 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20709 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20710 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20713 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20714 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20718 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20721 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20722 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20726 @node Image Enhancements
20727 @section Image Enhancements
20729 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20730 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20733 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20734 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20735 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20736 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20749 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20750 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20751 over your shoulder as you read news.
20753 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20762 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20763 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20764 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20765 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20766 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20767 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20768 @code{GIF} formats.
20771 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
20772 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
20773 point your Web browser at
20774 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
20776 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20777 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20779 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
20780 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
20783 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
20787 @item gnus-picon-databases
20788 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
20789 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
20790 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20791 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
20792 "/usr/local/faces")}.
20794 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
20795 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
20796 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
20797 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20799 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
20800 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
20801 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
20802 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
20804 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
20805 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
20806 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
20807 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20808 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20810 @item gnus-picon-file-types
20811 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
20812 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20813 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
20818 @subsection Smileys
20823 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20828 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20829 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20831 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20832 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20835 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20838 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
20839 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20840 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20841 text and maps that to file names.
20843 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
20844 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
20845 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
20846 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
20847 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
20850 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20855 @item smiley-data-directory
20856 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20857 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20859 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
20860 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
20861 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
20870 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20871 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20872 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20876 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20877 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20878 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20879 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20887 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20888 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20889 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20890 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20892 The variable that controls this is the
20893 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20894 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20895 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20896 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20897 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20899 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20900 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20901 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20902 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20905 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20906 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20907 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20908 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20909 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20910 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20911 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20912 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20914 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20917 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20918 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20920 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20921 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
20922 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
20923 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
20924 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20925 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20926 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20927 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
20928 header data as a string.
20930 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
20931 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
20932 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
20933 randomly generated data.
20935 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
20936 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
20937 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
20938 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20939 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20941 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
20942 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20945 (setq message-required-news-headers
20946 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20947 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20950 Using the last function would be something like this:
20953 (setq message-required-news-headers
20954 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20955 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20956 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20957 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20962 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20965 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20966 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20967 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20968 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20969 unusual directory structure.
20971 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20972 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20973 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20974 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20976 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20977 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20978 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20979 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20980 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20981 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20983 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20984 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20985 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20990 @subsubsection Toolbar
20994 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20995 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20996 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20997 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20998 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21000 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21001 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21002 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21004 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21005 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21006 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21008 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21009 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21010 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21021 @node Fuzzy Matching
21022 @section Fuzzy Matching
21023 @cindex fuzzy matching
21025 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21026 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21028 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21029 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21030 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21032 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21033 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21034 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21035 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21036 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21039 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21040 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21044 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21046 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21047 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21048 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21049 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21050 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21051 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21052 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21053 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21056 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21057 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21058 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21059 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21060 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21061 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21063 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21066 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21067 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21068 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21069 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21070 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21071 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21074 @node The problem of spam
21075 @subsection The problem of spam
21077 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21078 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21080 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21082 First, some background on spam.
21084 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21085 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21086 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21087 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21088 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21089 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21090 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21091 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21093 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21094 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21095 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21096 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21097 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21098 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21099 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21100 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21101 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21104 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21105 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21106 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21107 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21108 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21109 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21110 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21111 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21112 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21113 mail can be useful.
21115 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21116 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21117 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21118 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21119 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21120 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21121 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21122 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21123 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21125 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21126 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21127 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21128 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21129 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21130 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21131 because of the incident.
21133 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21134 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21135 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21136 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21137 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21138 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21139 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21140 to store the database of spam analyses.
21142 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21143 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21147 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21149 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21150 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21152 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21153 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21154 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21155 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21156 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21157 part of the mail address.)
21160 (setq message-default-news-headers
21161 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21164 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21165 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21170 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21171 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21172 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21178 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21179 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21180 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21181 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21183 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21184 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21185 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21186 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21187 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21188 your fancy split rule in this way:
21193 (to "larsi" "misc")
21197 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21198 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21199 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21200 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21201 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21203 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21204 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21205 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21206 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21207 cosmic balance somewhat.
21209 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21210 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21211 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21212 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21217 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21218 @cindex SpamAssassin
21219 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21222 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21223 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21224 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21225 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21226 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21227 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21228 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21230 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21231 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21232 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21233 Specifiers}) follows.
21237 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21240 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21243 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21244 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21245 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21248 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21252 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21255 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21256 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21260 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21261 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21262 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21263 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21266 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21268 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21270 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21271 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21273 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21275 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21276 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21280 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21281 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21282 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21285 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21286 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21288 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21289 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21290 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21294 @subsection Hashcash
21297 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21298 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21299 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21300 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21301 in smaller communities.
21303 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21304 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21305 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21306 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21307 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21308 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21309 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21310 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21311 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21312 one of them separately.
21315 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21316 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21317 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21318 header. For more details, and for the external application
21319 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21320 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21321 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21323 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21327 (require 'hashcash)
21328 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21331 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21332 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21333 development contrib directory.
21335 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21339 @item hashcash-default-payment
21340 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21341 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21342 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21343 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21345 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21346 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21347 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21348 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21349 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21350 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21351 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21352 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21356 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21360 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21361 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21362 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21363 a useful contribution, however.
21365 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21366 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21367 @cindex spam filtering
21370 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21371 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21372 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21373 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21376 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21377 the following keyboard commands:
21387 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21388 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21390 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
21391 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21392 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21393 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21399 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21400 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21402 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21408 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21409 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21412 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21413 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21414 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21415 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21416 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21417 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21418 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21419 will be detected later.
21421 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21422 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21423 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21424 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21425 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21426 by customizing the corresponding variable
21427 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21428 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21429 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21430 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21431 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21432 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21433 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21436 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21437 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21438 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
21439 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
21440 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21441 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21442 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21443 will study them as spam samples.
21445 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21446 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21447 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21448 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21449 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21450 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21451 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21452 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21454 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21455 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21456 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21457 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21460 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21461 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21462 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21465 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21466 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21467 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21468 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21469 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21470 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
21473 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21474 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21475 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21476 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21477 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21478 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21479 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21480 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21481 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21482 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21483 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21485 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21486 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21488 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21489 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21490 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21491 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21492 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21493 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21494 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21495 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21496 the spam articles are only expired.
21498 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21499 must add the following to your fancy split list
21500 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21506 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21507 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21508 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21510 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21511 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21512 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21513 but you can customize it.
21515 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21517 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21518 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21519 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21520 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21521 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21522 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21523 because it will slow IMAP down.
21525 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21527 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21528 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21529 longer spam or ham.}
21531 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21532 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21535 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21536 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21539 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21540 * BBDB Whitelists::
21542 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
21544 * ifile spam filtering::
21545 * spam-stat spam filtering::
21546 * Extending the spam elisp package::
21549 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21550 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21551 @cindex spam filtering
21552 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21553 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21556 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21557 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
21558 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
21559 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
21560 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
21564 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21565 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
21566 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
21567 whitelist will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an
21568 implicit filter, meaning it believes everyone to be a spammer unless
21569 told otherwise. Use with care.
21572 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
21573 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21574 customizing the group parameters or the
21575 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21576 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21577 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
21580 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
21581 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21582 customizing the group parameters or the
21583 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21584 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21585 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21586 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21587 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21590 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21591 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21592 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21593 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
21594 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21596 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21597 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21598 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21599 whitelists is very comprehensive or permissive. Also see @ref{BBDB
21600 Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21603 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
21604 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
21605 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
21606 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
21607 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21608 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21610 @node BBDB Whitelists
21611 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21612 @cindex spam filtering
21613 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21614 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21617 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
21619 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21620 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21621 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21622 @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21623 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21627 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
21628 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21629 customizing the group parameters or the
21630 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21631 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21632 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21633 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21634 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21638 @subsubsection Blackholes
21639 @cindex spam filtering
21640 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21643 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21645 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21646 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21647 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21648 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21649 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21650 contains outdated servers.
21652 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21653 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21654 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21655 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21656 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21657 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21661 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
21663 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
21667 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
21669 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
21670 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
21674 @defvar spam-use-dig
21676 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
21677 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
21681 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
21682 ham processor for blackholes.
21684 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
21685 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
21686 @cindex spam filtering
21687 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
21690 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
21692 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
21693 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
21694 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
21695 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
21696 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
21697 message is spam or ham, respectively.
21701 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
21703 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
21704 the message, positively identify it as spam.
21708 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
21710 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
21711 the message, positively identify it as ham.
21715 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
21716 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
21719 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21720 @cindex spam filtering
21721 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21724 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21726 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21729 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
21730 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21731 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21732 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
21733 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
21734 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
21736 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
21737 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
21740 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
21741 processing will be turned off.
21743 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
21747 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
21749 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21750 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
21751 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
21752 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
21753 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
21754 installation documents for details.
21756 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
21760 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
21761 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21762 customizing the group parameters or the
21763 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21764 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
21765 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
21768 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
21769 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21770 customizing the group parameters or the
21771 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21772 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21773 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
21774 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21775 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21778 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
21780 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
21781 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
21782 database directory.
21786 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
21787 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21788 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
21789 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
21790 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
21791 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
21793 @node ifile spam filtering
21794 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
21795 @cindex spam filtering
21796 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21799 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21801 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
21802 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
21806 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
21808 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
21809 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
21810 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
21814 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
21816 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
21817 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
21818 the default value of @samp{spam}.
21821 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
21823 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
21824 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
21828 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
21829 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21830 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
21831 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
21834 @node spam-stat spam filtering
21835 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
21836 @cindex spam filtering
21837 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
21841 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
21843 @defvar spam-use-stat
21845 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
21846 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
21850 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
21851 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21852 customizing the group parameters or the
21853 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21854 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
21855 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
21858 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
21859 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21860 customizing the group parameters or the
21861 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21862 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21863 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
21864 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21865 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21868 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
21869 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
21870 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
21871 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
21874 @node Extending the spam elisp package
21875 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
21876 @cindex spam filtering
21877 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
21878 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
21880 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
21881 incoming mail, provide the following:
21889 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21890 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21895 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21897 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21902 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21903 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21904 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21907 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
21914 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
21915 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
21918 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
21919 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
21920 Only applicable to spam groups.")
21922 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
21923 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
21924 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
21932 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
21933 (spam-generic-register-routine
21934 ;; the spam function
21936 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
21937 (when (stringp from)
21938 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
21939 ;; the ham function
21942 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
21943 (spam-generic-register-routine
21944 ;; the spam function
21946 ;; the ham function
21948 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
21949 (when (stringp from)
21950 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
21953 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
21954 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
21955 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
21956 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
21957 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
21958 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
21963 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
21964 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
21965 @cindex Paul Graham
21966 @cindex Graham, Paul
21967 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
21968 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
21969 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
21971 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
21972 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
21973 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
21974 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
21975 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
21976 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
21977 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
21978 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
21979 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
21982 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
21983 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
21984 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
21985 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
21986 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
21987 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
21988 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
21989 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
21991 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
21992 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
21993 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
21994 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
21995 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
21998 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
21999 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22000 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22003 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22004 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22006 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22007 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22008 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22009 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22010 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22012 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22013 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22014 per mail. Use the following:
22016 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22017 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22018 is treated as one spam mail.
22021 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22022 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22023 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22026 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22027 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22028 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22029 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22030 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22031 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22033 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22034 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22035 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22036 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22037 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22040 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22041 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22042 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22043 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22046 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22047 reset the dictionary.
22049 @defun spam-stat-reset
22050 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22053 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22054 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22055 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22056 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22057 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22058 only non-spam mails.
22060 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22061 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22062 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22065 @defun spam-stat-save
22066 Save the dictionary.
22069 @defvar spam-stat-file
22070 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22071 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22074 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22075 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22077 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22078 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22081 (require 'spam-stat)
22085 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22088 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22089 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22090 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22091 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22093 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22094 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22095 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22096 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22099 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22100 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22104 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22105 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22108 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22109 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22110 expression are considered potential spam.
22113 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22114 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22115 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22119 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22120 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22121 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22122 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22123 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22126 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22127 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22128 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22132 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22133 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22134 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22135 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22136 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22140 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22141 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22142 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22143 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22148 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22149 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22151 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22153 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22154 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22155 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22158 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22159 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22160 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22163 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22164 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22165 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22166 already been processed as non-spam.
22169 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22170 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22171 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22172 been processed as spam.
22175 @defun spam-stat-save
22176 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22177 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22180 @defun spam-stat-load
22181 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22182 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22185 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22186 Return the spam score for a word.
22189 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22190 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22193 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22194 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22195 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22198 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22199 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22202 (require 'spam-stat)
22206 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22209 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22210 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22211 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22212 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22213 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22214 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22215 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22216 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22217 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22218 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22219 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22220 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22221 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22222 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22225 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22228 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22229 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22230 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22231 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22232 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22233 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22236 @node Various Various
22237 @section Various Various
22243 @item gnus-home-directory
22244 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22245 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22246 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22248 @item gnus-directory
22249 @vindex gnus-directory
22250 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22251 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22252 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22254 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22255 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22256 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22257 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22259 @item gnus-default-directory
22260 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22261 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22262 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22263 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22264 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22265 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22266 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22269 @vindex gnus-verbose
22270 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22271 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22272 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22273 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22274 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22276 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22277 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22278 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22279 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22281 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22282 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22283 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22284 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22285 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22286 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22287 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22288 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22289 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22290 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22292 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22293 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22294 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22295 read when doing the operation described above.
22297 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22298 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22300 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22301 @cindex characters in file names
22302 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22303 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22304 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22307 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22311 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22312 Windows (phooey) systems.
22314 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22315 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22316 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22317 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22318 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22320 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22321 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22322 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22323 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22324 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22326 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22327 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22328 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22330 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22331 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22333 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22334 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22335 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22336 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22339 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22347 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22348 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22350 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22352 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22358 Not because of victories @*
22361 but for the common sunshine,@*
22363 the largess of the spring.
22367 but for the day's work done@*
22368 as well as I was able;@*
22369 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22370 but at the common table.@*
22375 @chapter Appendices
22378 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22379 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22380 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22381 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22382 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22383 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22384 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22385 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22386 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22393 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22395 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22396 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22397 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22398 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22399 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22400 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22407 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22408 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22410 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22411 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22412 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22413 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22414 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22416 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22417 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22418 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22419 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22420 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22421 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22423 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22424 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22425 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22426 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22429 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22430 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22431 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22432 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22433 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22434 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22435 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22436 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22437 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22441 @node Gnus Versions
22442 @subsection Gnus Versions
22444 @cindex September Gnus
22446 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22447 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22451 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22452 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22453 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22455 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22456 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22458 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22459 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22461 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22462 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22464 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22465 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22468 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22470 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22471 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22472 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22473 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22474 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22475 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22478 @node Other Gnus Versions
22479 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22482 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22483 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22484 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22485 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22487 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22488 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22489 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22490 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22497 What's the point of Gnus?
22499 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22500 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22501 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22502 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22503 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22504 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22505 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22506 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22507 keep track of millions of people who post?
22509 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22510 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22511 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22512 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22513 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22514 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22515 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22516 every one of you to explore and invent.
22518 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22519 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22522 @node Compatibility
22523 @subsection Compatibility
22525 @cindex compatibility
22526 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22527 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22528 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22533 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22537 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22540 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22543 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22544 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22545 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22546 important variables have their values copied into their global
22547 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22548 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22550 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22551 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22552 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22553 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22554 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22558 @cindex highlighting
22559 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22560 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22561 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22562 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22563 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22564 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22567 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22568 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22569 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22570 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22572 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22573 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22574 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22575 to stop doing it the old way.
22577 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22579 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22581 @cindex reporting bugs
22583 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22584 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22585 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22587 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22588 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22589 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22590 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22595 @subsection Conformity
22597 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22598 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22606 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22610 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22612 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22613 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22614 We do have some breaches to this one.
22620 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22621 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22622 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22623 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22624 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22629 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22630 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22631 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22632 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22634 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22636 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22638 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22639 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22641 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22644 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22645 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22646 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22647 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22648 decoding (verification and decryption).
22650 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22651 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22652 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22653 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22655 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22656 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22658 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22659 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22660 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22661 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22662 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22663 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22664 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22668 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22669 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22674 @subsection Emacsen
22680 Gnus should work on :
22688 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
22692 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22693 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22694 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
22695 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
22696 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
22698 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22699 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22700 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22704 @node Gnus Development
22705 @subsection Gnus Development
22707 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22708 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22709 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22710 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22711 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22712 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22713 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22714 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22716 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22717 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22718 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22719 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22720 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22723 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22724 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22725 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22726 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22727 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22729 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22730 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22731 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22732 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22733 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22734 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22735 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22736 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22737 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22738 can't be assumed to do so.
22743 @subsection Contributors
22744 @cindex contributors
22746 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22747 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22748 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22749 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22750 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22751 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22752 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22753 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22754 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22755 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22757 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22763 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22766 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22767 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22768 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22769 functionality and stuff.
22772 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22773 well as numerous other things).
22776 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22779 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22782 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22785 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22788 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22789 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22792 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22795 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22796 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22799 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22802 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22805 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22808 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22811 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22812 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22815 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22818 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22821 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22824 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22828 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22831 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22834 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22837 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22838 well as autoconf support.
22842 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22843 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22845 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22854 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22858 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22868 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22883 Massimo Campostrini,
22888 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22889 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22893 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22896 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22902 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22907 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22911 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
22919 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
22921 Michelangelo Grigni,
22925 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
22927 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
22929 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
22936 François Felix Ingrand,
22937 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
22938 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
22940 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
22951 Peter Skov Knudsen,
22952 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
22954 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
22955 Thor Kristoffersen,
22958 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
22976 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
22977 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
22984 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
22989 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
22993 John McClary Prevost,
22999 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23004 Christian von Roques,
23007 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23014 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23016 Randal L. Schwartz,
23030 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23035 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23051 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23056 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23057 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23058 (550kB and counting).
23060 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23063 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23064 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23068 @subsection New Features
23069 @cindex new features
23072 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23073 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23074 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23075 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23076 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23079 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23080 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23081 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23084 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23086 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23091 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23092 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23095 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23096 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23099 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23102 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23103 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23104 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23107 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23108 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23109 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23110 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23113 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23114 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23117 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23118 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23119 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23122 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23123 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23126 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23127 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23128 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23131 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23132 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23133 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23136 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23137 the @file{.emacs} file.
23140 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23141 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23144 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23145 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23148 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23149 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23152 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23153 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23156 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23157 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23160 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23163 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23164 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23167 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23168 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23171 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23172 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23175 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23178 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23179 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23182 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23186 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23190 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23191 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23194 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23200 @node September Gnus
23201 @subsubsection September Gnus
23205 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23209 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23214 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23215 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23219 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23220 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23224 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23228 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23229 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23232 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23236 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23239 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23242 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23245 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23249 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23250 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23253 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23257 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23261 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23265 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23269 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23272 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23273 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23276 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23280 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23281 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23284 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23287 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23288 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23289 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23292 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23296 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23299 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23303 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23304 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23307 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23308 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23311 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23312 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23315 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23316 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23317 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23320 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23321 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23324 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23327 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23330 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23333 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23336 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23337 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23340 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23344 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23347 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23352 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23355 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23359 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23362 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23366 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23369 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23372 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23373 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23376 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23377 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23381 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23382 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23385 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23389 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23390 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23393 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23396 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23400 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23404 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23405 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23408 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23412 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23413 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23416 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23417 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23420 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23424 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23427 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23430 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23436 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23438 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23442 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23449 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23452 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23453 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23456 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23457 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23461 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23462 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23465 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23468 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23469 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23472 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23476 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23477 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23481 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23482 Server Internals}).
23485 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23489 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23492 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23493 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23496 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23497 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23498 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23501 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23502 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23505 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23506 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23509 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23513 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23514 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23517 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23518 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23521 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23525 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23528 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23532 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23533 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23536 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23537 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23540 A new command for reading collections of documents
23541 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23542 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23545 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23549 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23550 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23553 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23554 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23555 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23558 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23559 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23563 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23567 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23571 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23576 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23580 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23584 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23585 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23588 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23594 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23596 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23601 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23602 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23603 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23606 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23607 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23608 group, which is created automatically.
23611 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23615 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23618 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23619 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23622 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23626 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23629 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23630 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23633 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23636 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23637 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23640 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23641 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23644 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23645 control over simplification.
23648 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23651 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23655 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23658 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23661 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23662 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23663 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23666 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23667 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23670 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23674 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23675 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23678 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23679 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23682 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23686 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23689 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23692 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23693 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23696 A new function for citing in Message has been
23697 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23700 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23703 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23707 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23708 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23711 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23712 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23715 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23718 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23722 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23723 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23725 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23730 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23731 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23733 If you used procmail like in
23736 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23737 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23738 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23739 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23742 this now has changed to
23746 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23750 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23751 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23754 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23755 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23758 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23759 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23762 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23763 called to position point.
23766 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23767 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23770 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23771 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23774 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23775 subtly different manner.
23778 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23779 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23780 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23783 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23791 @section The Manual
23795 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23796 either @code{texi2dvi}
23798 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23799 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23801 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23803 The following conventions have been used:
23808 This is a @samp{string}
23811 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23814 This is a @file{file}
23817 This is a @code{symbol}
23821 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23825 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23828 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23831 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23834 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23835 ever get them confused.
23839 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23840 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23841 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23842 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23843 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23844 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23845 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23851 @node On Writing Manuals
23852 @section On Writing Manuals
23854 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23855 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23856 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23857 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23858 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23859 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23862 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23863 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23864 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23867 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23868 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23873 @section Terminology
23875 @cindex terminology
23880 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23881 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23882 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23883 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23884 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23888 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23889 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23890 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23891 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23895 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23899 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23904 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23905 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23906 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23907 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23908 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23909 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23910 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23911 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23912 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23914 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23915 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23916 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23917 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23918 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
23921 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
23922 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
23923 access the articles.
23925 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
23926 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
23927 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
23932 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
23933 default, way of getting news.
23937 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
23938 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
23943 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
23944 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
23948 A message that has been posted as news.
23951 @cindex mail message
23952 A message that has been mailed.
23956 A mail message or news article
23960 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
23965 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
23970 A line from the head of an article.
23974 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
23975 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
23979 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
23980 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
23981 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
23982 normal @sc{head} format.
23986 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
23987 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
23988 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
23989 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
23990 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
23991 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
23993 @item killed groups
23994 @cindex killed groups
23995 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
23996 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
23998 @item zombie groups
23999 @cindex zombie groups
24000 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24003 @cindex active file
24004 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24005 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24006 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24009 @cindex bogus groups
24010 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24011 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24012 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24015 @cindex activating groups
24016 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24017 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24018 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24022 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24024 @item select method
24025 @cindex select method
24026 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24029 @item virtual server
24030 @cindex virtual server
24031 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24032 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24033 whole is a virtual server.
24037 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24038 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24041 @item ephemeral groups
24042 @cindex ephemeral groups
24043 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24044 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24045 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24048 @cindex solid groups
24049 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24050 group buffer are solid groups.
24052 @item sparse articles
24053 @cindex sparse articles
24054 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24055 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24059 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24060 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24064 @cindex thread root
24065 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24066 articles in the thread.
24070 An article that has responses.
24074 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24078 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24079 specified by RFC 1153.
24085 @node Customization
24086 @section Customization
24087 @cindex general customization
24089 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24090 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24091 for some quite common situations.
24094 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24095 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24096 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24097 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24101 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24102 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24104 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24105 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24106 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24110 @item gnus-read-active-file
24111 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24112 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24113 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24114 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24115 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24117 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24118 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24119 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24120 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24124 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24125 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24127 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24128 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24129 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24133 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24134 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24135 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24136 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24137 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24139 @item gnus-visible-headers
24140 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24141 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24142 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24143 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24145 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24147 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24148 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24149 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24152 @item gnus-use-full-window
24153 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24154 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24155 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24156 want to read them anyway.
24158 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24159 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24163 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24164 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24165 lines, which might save some time.
24169 @node Little Disk Space
24170 @subsection Little Disk Space
24173 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24174 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24178 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24179 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24180 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24181 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24184 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24185 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24186 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24187 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24190 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24191 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24192 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24193 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24194 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24200 @subsection Slow Machine
24201 @cindex slow machine
24203 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24204 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24206 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24207 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24209 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24210 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24211 summary buffer faster.
24215 @node Troubleshooting
24216 @section Troubleshooting
24217 @cindex troubleshooting
24219 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24227 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24230 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24231 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24235 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24236 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24237 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24238 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24239 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24242 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24246 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24247 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24248 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24249 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24250 something like that.
24253 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24256 @cindex reporting bugs
24258 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24260 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24261 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24262 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24263 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24265 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24266 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24267 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24268 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24271 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24272 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24273 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24274 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24275 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24276 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24278 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24279 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24280 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24284 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24285 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24288 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24289 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24290 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24291 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24292 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24293 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24294 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24295 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24296 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24297 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24298 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24299 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24300 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24301 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24306 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24307 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24308 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press C-j when things are
24309 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24310 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24311 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24312 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24313 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24314 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24315 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-packagre RET message}. Then perform
24316 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24317 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24318 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24319 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24320 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24321 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24322 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24323 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24325 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24326 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24328 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24329 @cindex ding mailing list
24330 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
24331 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24335 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24336 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24338 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24339 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24340 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24341 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24344 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24345 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24346 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24347 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24348 and general methods of operation.
24351 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24352 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24353 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24354 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24355 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24356 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24357 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24358 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24359 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24363 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24364 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24365 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24366 @cindex utility functions
24368 @cindex internal variables
24370 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24371 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24372 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24376 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24377 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24378 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24380 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24381 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24382 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24384 @item gnus-group-real-name
24385 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24386 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24389 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24390 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24391 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24392 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24394 @item gnus-get-info
24395 @findex gnus-get-info
24396 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24398 @item gnus-group-unread
24399 @findex gnus-group-unread
24400 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24404 @findex gnus-active
24405 The active entry for @var{group}.
24407 @item gnus-set-active
24408 @findex gnus-set-active
24409 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24411 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24412 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24413 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24416 @item gnus-continuum-version
24417 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24418 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24419 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24422 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24423 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24424 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24426 @item gnus-news-group-p
24427 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24428 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24430 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24431 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24432 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24434 @item gnus-server-to-method
24435 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24436 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24438 @item gnus-server-equal
24439 @findex gnus-server-equal
24440 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24442 @item gnus-group-native-p
24443 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24444 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24446 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24447 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24448 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24450 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24451 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24452 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24454 @item group-group-find-parameter
24455 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24456 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24457 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24459 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24460 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24461 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24463 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24464 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24465 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24467 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24468 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24469 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24470 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24473 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24477 @item gnus-read-method
24478 @findex gnus-read-method
24479 Prompts the user for a select method.
24484 @node Back End Interface
24485 @subsection Back End Interface
24487 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24488 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24489 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24490 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24491 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24492 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24494 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24495 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24496 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24497 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24498 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24499 been opened, the function should fail.
24501 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24502 name. Take this example:
24506 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24507 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24510 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24511 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24513 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24514 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24515 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24517 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24518 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24519 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24521 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24522 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24523 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24524 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24525 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24526 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24529 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24530 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24531 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24532 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24535 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24536 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24537 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24538 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24539 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24540 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24541 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24542 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24543 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24544 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24546 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24547 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24548 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24549 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24550 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24551 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24552 of numbers as long as possible.
24554 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24555 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24556 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24558 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24561 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24564 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24565 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24566 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24567 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24568 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24569 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24573 @node Required Back End Functions
24574 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24578 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24580 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24581 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24582 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24583 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24585 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24586 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24587 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24588 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24590 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24591 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24592 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24593 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24594 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24595 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24596 number, do maximum fetches.
24598 Here's an example HEAD:
24601 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24602 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24603 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24604 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24605 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24606 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24607 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24609 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24610 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24611 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24615 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24616 these in the data buffer.
24618 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24622 head = error / valid-head
24623 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24624 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24625 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24626 header = <text> eol
24629 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24630 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24634 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24635 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24636 field = <text except TAB>
24639 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24643 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24645 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24646 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24648 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24649 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24650 server. In fact, it should do so.
24652 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24653 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24656 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24658 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24659 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24662 There should be no data returned.
24665 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24667 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24668 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24669 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24670 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24672 There should be no data returned.
24675 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24677 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24678 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24679 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24680 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24682 There should be no data returned.
24685 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24687 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24689 There should be no data returned.
24692 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24694 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24695 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24696 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24697 it would be nice if that were possible.
24699 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24700 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24701 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24702 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24703 into its article buffer.
24705 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24706 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24707 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24708 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24709 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24710 on successful article retrieval.
24713 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24715 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24716 making @var{group} the current group.
24718 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24721 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24724 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24727 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24728 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24729 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24730 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24731 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24732 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24733 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24734 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24735 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24739 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24740 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24741 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24745 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24747 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24748 a no-op on most back ends.
24750 There should be no data returned.
24753 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24755 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24758 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24761 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24762 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24765 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24766 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24767 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24768 and the highest as 0.
24771 active-file = *active-line
24772 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24774 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24777 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24778 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24779 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24782 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24784 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24785 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24786 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24787 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24788 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24789 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24791 There should be no result data from this function.
24796 @node Optional Back End Functions
24797 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24801 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24803 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24804 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24805 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24807 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24808 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24809 former is in the same format as the data from
24810 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24811 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24814 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24818 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24820 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24821 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24822 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24823 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24824 should return a non-nil value.
24826 There should be no result data from this function.
24829 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24831 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24832 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24833 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24834 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24835 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24836 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24837 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24838 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24840 There should be no result data from this function.
24843 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24845 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24846 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24847 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24848 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24849 propagate the mark information to the server.
24851 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24854 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24857 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
24858 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
24859 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
24860 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
24861 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24862 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24863 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24864 possible, not limit itself to these.
24866 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24867 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24868 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24869 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24871 An example action list:
24874 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24875 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24876 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24879 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24880 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24882 There should be no result data from this function.
24884 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24886 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24887 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24888 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24889 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24890 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24892 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24893 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24894 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24897 There should be no result data from this function.
24900 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24902 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24903 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24904 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24905 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24906 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24907 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24908 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24910 There should be no result data from this function.
24913 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24915 The result data from this function should be a description of
24919 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
24921 description = <text>
24924 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
24926 The result data from this function should be the description of all
24927 groups available on the server.
24930 description-buffer = *description-line
24934 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
24936 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
24937 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
24938 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
24939 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
24940 in the active buffer format.
24942 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
24943 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
24944 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
24945 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
24946 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
24947 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
24948 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
24951 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24953 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
24955 There should be no return data.
24958 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
24960 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
24961 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
24962 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
24963 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
24964 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
24967 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
24970 There should be no result data returned.
24973 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
24976 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
24977 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
24979 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
24980 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
24981 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
24982 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
24983 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
24984 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
24986 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
24987 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
24990 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24991 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24993 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
24994 article for that group.
24996 There should be no data returned.
24999 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25001 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25002 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25003 this function in short order.
25005 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25006 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25008 There should be no data returned.
25011 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25013 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25014 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25016 There should be no data returned.
25019 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25021 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25022 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25023 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25025 There should be no data returned.
25028 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25030 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25031 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25033 There should be no data returned.
25038 @node Error Messaging
25039 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25041 @findex nnheader-report
25042 @findex nnheader-get-report
25043 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25044 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25045 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25046 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25047 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25048 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25051 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25053 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25056 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25057 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25058 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25059 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25061 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25062 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25063 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25066 @node Writing New Back Ends
25067 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25069 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25070 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25071 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25072 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25073 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25076 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25077 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25078 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25080 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25081 package called @code{nnoo}.
25083 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25084 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25090 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25091 parameters. For instance:
25094 (nnoo-declare nndir
25098 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25099 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25102 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25103 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25104 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25106 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25107 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25108 a function in those back ends.
25111 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25112 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25113 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25116 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25117 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25118 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25120 @item nnoo-define-basics
25121 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25125 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25129 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25130 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25131 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25133 @item nnoo-map-functions
25134 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25135 functions from the parent back ends.
25138 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25139 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25140 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25143 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25144 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25145 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25146 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25149 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25150 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25151 haven't already been defined.
25157 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25161 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25162 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25163 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25168 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25171 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25172 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25176 (require 'nnheader)
25180 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25182 (nnoo-declare nndir
25185 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25186 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25187 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25189 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25190 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25193 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25195 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25196 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25197 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25199 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25200 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25202 ;;; Interface functions.
25204 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25206 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25207 (setq nndir-directory
25208 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25210 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25211 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25212 (push `(nndir-current-group
25213 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25214 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25216 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25217 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25219 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25221 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25222 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25223 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25224 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25225 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25229 nnmh-status-message
25231 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25237 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25238 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25240 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25241 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25242 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25243 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25244 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25246 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25247 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25252 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25255 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25257 The abilities can be:
25261 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25263 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25265 This back end supports both mail and news.
25267 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25270 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25271 articles and groups.
25273 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25274 true for almost all back ends.
25275 @item prompt-address
25276 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25277 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25278 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25282 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25283 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25285 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25286 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25287 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25288 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25291 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25292 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25293 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25296 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25297 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25300 This function takes four parameters.
25304 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25307 @item exit-function
25308 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25310 @item temp-directory
25311 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25314 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25315 performed for one group only.
25318 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25319 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25320 find the article number assigned to this article.
25322 The function also uses the following variables:
25323 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25324 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25325 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25326 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25330 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25331 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25335 @node Score File Syntax
25336 @subsection Score File Syntax
25338 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25339 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25340 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25342 Here's a typical score file:
25346 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25353 BNF definition of a score file:
25356 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25357 element = rule / atom
25358 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25359 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25360 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25361 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25363 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25364 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25365 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25366 date-header = "date"
25367 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25368 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25369 score = "nil" / <integer>
25370 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25371 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25372 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25373 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25374 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25375 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25376 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25377 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25378 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25379 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25380 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25381 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25382 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25383 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25384 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25385 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25386 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25387 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25388 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25389 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25390 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25391 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25392 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25393 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25394 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25395 eval = "eval" space <form>
25396 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25399 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25402 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25403 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25404 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25405 one looong line, then that's ok.
25407 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25408 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25412 @subsection Headers
25414 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25415 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25416 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25417 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25419 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25420 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25421 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25422 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25423 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25424 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25425 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25427 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25428 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25429 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25430 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25431 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25433 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25434 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25440 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25441 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25443 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25444 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25445 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25446 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25448 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25452 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25455 is transformed into
25458 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25461 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25462 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25465 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25468 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25469 is slightly tricky:
25472 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25478 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25481 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25487 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25494 and is equal to the previous range.
25496 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25497 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25498 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25502 range = simple-range / normal-range
25503 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25504 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25505 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25506 number *[ " " contents ]
25509 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25510 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25511 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25512 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25513 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25518 @subsection Group Info
25520 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25521 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25522 describes the group.
25524 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25525 second is a more complex one:
25528 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25530 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25531 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25533 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25536 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25537 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25538 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25539 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25540 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25541 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25542 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25543 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25544 this section is about.
25546 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25547 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25548 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25550 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25553 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25554 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25555 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25556 group = quote <string> quote
25557 ralevel = rank / level
25558 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25559 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25560 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25562 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25563 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25564 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25565 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25568 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25569 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25572 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25573 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25576 @item gnus-info-group
25577 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25578 @findex gnus-info-group
25579 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25580 Get/set the group name.
25582 @item gnus-info-rank
25583 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25584 @findex gnus-info-rank
25585 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25586 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25588 @item gnus-info-level
25589 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25590 @findex gnus-info-level
25591 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25592 Get/set the group level.
25594 @item gnus-info-score
25595 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25596 @findex gnus-info-score
25597 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25598 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25600 @item gnus-info-read
25601 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25602 @findex gnus-info-read
25603 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25604 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25606 @item gnus-info-marks
25607 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25608 @findex gnus-info-marks
25609 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25610 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25612 @item gnus-info-method
25613 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25614 @findex gnus-info-method
25615 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25616 Get/set the group select method.
25618 @item gnus-info-params
25619 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25620 @findex gnus-info-params
25621 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25622 Get/set the group parameters.
25625 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25626 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25628 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25629 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25630 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25631 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25634 @node Extended Interactive
25635 @subsection Extended Interactive
25636 @cindex interactive
25637 @findex gnus-interactive
25639 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25640 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25641 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25644 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25645 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25650 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25651 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25652 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25653 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25654 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25655 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25656 @code{interactive}.
25658 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25663 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25664 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25668 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25669 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25670 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25673 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25677 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25681 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25687 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25688 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25692 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25693 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25694 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25696 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25697 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25698 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25699 Gnus, that's very useful.
25701 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25702 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25703 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25704 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25705 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25706 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25707 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25708 following function:
25711 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25715 (,function ,@@args))
25719 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25720 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25721 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25724 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25725 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25726 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25728 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25729 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25730 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25733 @node Various File Formats
25734 @subsection Various File Formats
25737 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25738 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25742 @node Active File Format
25743 @subsubsection Active File Format
25745 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25746 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25749 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25752 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25753 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25754 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25755 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25756 no.general 1000 900 y
25759 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25762 active = *group-line
25763 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25764 group = <non-white-space string>
25766 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25767 low-number = <positive integer>
25768 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25771 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25772 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25775 @node Newsgroups File Format
25776 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25778 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25779 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25780 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25783 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25784 Here's the definition:
25788 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25789 group = <non-white-space string>
25791 description = <string>
25796 @node Emacs for Heathens
25797 @section Emacs for Heathens
25799 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25800 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25801 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25802 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25803 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25804 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25805 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25809 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25810 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25815 @subsection Keystrokes
25819 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25822 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25825 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25826 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25827 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25828 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25829 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25830 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25832 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25833 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25834 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25835 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25836 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25837 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25838 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25840 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25841 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25842 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25843 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25844 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25845 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25846 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25848 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25849 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25850 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25851 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25852 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25858 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25860 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25861 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25862 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25863 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25865 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25866 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25867 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25868 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25869 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25870 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25871 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25874 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25875 write the following:
25878 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25881 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25882 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25883 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25886 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
25887 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25888 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25889 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25890 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25892 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25893 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25894 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25898 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25902 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25905 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25906 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25909 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25912 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25913 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25916 @include gnus-faq.texi
25936 @c Local Variables:
25938 @c coding: iso-8859-1
25940 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
25941 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
25942 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
25943 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
25944 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref