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 and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
764 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
765 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
766 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
767 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
768 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
772 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
773 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
774 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
778 * Group Agent Commands::
779 * Summary Agent Commands::
780 * Server Agent Commands::
784 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
785 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
786 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
787 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
788 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
789 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
790 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
791 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
792 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
793 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
794 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
795 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
796 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
797 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
798 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
799 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
800 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
804 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
805 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
806 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
807 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
811 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
812 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
813 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
817 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
818 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
819 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
820 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
821 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
822 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
823 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
824 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
825 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
826 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
827 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
828 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
829 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
830 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
831 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
832 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
833 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
834 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
835 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
839 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
840 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
841 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
842 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
843 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
844 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
845 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
846 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
850 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
851 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
852 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
853 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
854 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
858 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
859 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
860 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
861 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
862 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
866 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
867 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
868 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
869 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
870 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
871 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
875 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
876 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
877 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
878 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
879 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
880 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
881 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
882 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
883 * Frequently Asked Questions::
887 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
888 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
889 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
890 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
891 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
892 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
893 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
894 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
895 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
899 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
900 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
901 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
902 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
903 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
907 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
908 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
909 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
910 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
914 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
915 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
916 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
917 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
918 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
919 * Group Info:: The group info format.
920 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
921 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
922 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
926 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
927 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
928 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
929 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
930 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
931 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
935 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
936 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
940 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
941 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
947 @chapter Starting gnus
952 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
953 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
956 @findex gnus-other-frame
957 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
958 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
959 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
961 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
962 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
963 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
965 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
966 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
969 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
970 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
971 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
972 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
973 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
974 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
975 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
976 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
977 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
978 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
979 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
983 @node Finding the News
984 @section Finding the News
987 @vindex gnus-select-method
989 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
990 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
991 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
992 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
995 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
996 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1002 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1005 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1008 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1009 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1010 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1012 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1014 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1015 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1016 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1017 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1018 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1019 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1021 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1022 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1023 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1024 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1026 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1027 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1028 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1029 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1030 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1031 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1032 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1033 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1034 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1037 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1039 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1040 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1041 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1042 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1043 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1044 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1046 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1048 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1049 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1050 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1051 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1052 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1053 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1056 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1057 you would typically set this variable to
1060 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1064 @node The First Time
1065 @section The First Time
1066 @cindex first time usage
1068 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1069 be subscribed by default.
1071 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1072 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1073 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1074 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1077 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1078 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1079 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1081 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1082 help you with most common problems.
1084 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1085 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1089 @node The Server is Down
1090 @section The Server is Down
1091 @cindex server errors
1093 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1094 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1095 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1097 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1098 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1099 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1100 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1101 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1102 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1103 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1105 @findex gnus-no-server
1106 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1108 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1109 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1110 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1111 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1112 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1113 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1114 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1118 @section Slave Gnusae
1121 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1122 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1123 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1124 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1126 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1127 @code{.newsrc} file.
1129 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1130 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1131 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1132 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1133 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1134 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1135 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1137 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1138 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1139 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1140 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1141 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1142 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1143 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1144 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1146 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1147 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1149 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1150 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1151 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1152 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1153 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1155 @node Fetching a Group
1156 @section Fetching a Group
1157 @cindex fetching a group
1159 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1160 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1161 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1162 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1163 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1164 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1170 @cindex subscription
1172 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1173 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1174 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1175 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1176 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1177 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1178 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1179 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1180 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1183 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1184 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1185 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1189 @node Checking New Groups
1190 @subsection Checking New Groups
1192 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1193 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1194 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1195 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1196 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1197 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1198 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1199 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1200 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1201 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1203 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1204 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1205 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1206 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1207 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1208 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1209 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1210 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1211 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1212 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1213 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1215 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1216 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1217 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1218 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1219 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1220 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1223 @node Subscription Methods
1224 @subsection Subscription Methods
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1227 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1228 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1230 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1231 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1233 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1239 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1240 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1241 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1245 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1246 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1250 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1254 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1255 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1256 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1257 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1258 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1259 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1260 up. Or something like that.
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1264 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1265 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1266 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1270 Kill all new groups.
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1274 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1275 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1276 topic parameter that looks like
1282 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1285 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1290 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1291 A closely related variable is
1292 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1293 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1294 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1295 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1298 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1299 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1301 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1304 @node Filtering New Groups
1305 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1307 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1308 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1309 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1312 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1315 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1316 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1317 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1318 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1319 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1320 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1321 subscribing these groups.
1322 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1323 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1325 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1326 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1327 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1328 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1329 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1330 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1331 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1332 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1334 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1335 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1336 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1337 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1338 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1339 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1340 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1341 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1342 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1343 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1346 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1347 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1350 @node Changing Servers
1351 @section Changing Servers
1352 @cindex changing servers
1354 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1355 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1356 very flaky and you want to use another.
1358 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1359 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1363 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1364 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1365 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1366 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1369 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1370 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1371 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1372 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1374 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1375 @findex gnus-change-server
1376 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1377 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1378 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1379 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1380 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1382 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1383 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1384 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1385 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1386 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1388 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1389 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1390 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1391 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1392 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1393 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1395 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1396 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1397 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1398 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1400 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1401 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1402 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1403 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1404 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1405 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1406 cache for all groups).
1410 @section Startup Files
1411 @cindex startup files
1416 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1417 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1419 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1420 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1421 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1422 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1423 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1424 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1425 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1427 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1428 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1429 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1430 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1431 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1432 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1434 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1435 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1436 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1437 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1438 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1439 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1440 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1441 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1442 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1443 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1445 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1446 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1447 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1448 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1449 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1450 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1451 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1452 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1453 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1454 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1455 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1456 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1458 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1459 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1460 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1461 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1463 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1464 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1465 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1466 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1467 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1468 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1469 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1470 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1471 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1472 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1475 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1476 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1478 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1479 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1482 @vindex gnus-init-file
1483 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1484 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1485 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1486 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1487 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1488 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1489 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1490 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1491 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1497 @cindex dribble file
1500 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1501 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1502 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1503 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1504 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1507 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1508 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1511 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1512 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1513 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1515 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1516 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1517 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1518 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1519 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1520 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1522 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1523 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1524 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1527 @node The Active File
1528 @section The Active File
1530 @cindex ignored groups
1532 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1533 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1534 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1536 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1537 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1538 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1539 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1540 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1541 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1542 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1545 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1546 @c if you set it to anything else.
1548 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1550 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1551 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1552 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1554 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1555 you actually subscribe to.
1557 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1558 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1559 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1560 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1562 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1563 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1564 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1565 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1566 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1567 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1569 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1570 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1571 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1574 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1575 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1576 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1577 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1578 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1579 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1581 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1582 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1584 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1585 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1587 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1588 secondary select methods.
1591 @node Startup Variables
1592 @section Startup Variables
1596 @item gnus-load-hook
1597 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1598 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1599 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1600 times you start gnus.
1602 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1603 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1606 @item gnus-startup-hook
1607 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1608 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1610 @item gnus-started-hook
1611 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1612 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1615 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1616 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1618 generating the group buffer.
1620 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1621 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1623 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1624 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1625 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1626 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1627 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1629 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1630 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1632 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1633 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1634 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1636 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1637 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1638 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1640 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1641 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1644 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1645 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1646 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1647 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1653 @chapter Group Buffer
1654 @cindex group buffer
1656 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1658 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1659 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1660 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1661 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1662 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1663 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1664 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1665 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1666 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1667 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1668 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1669 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1670 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1671 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1672 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1673 @c human rights at 9...
1676 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1677 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1678 long as gnus is active.
1682 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1683 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1684 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1685 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1686 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1687 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1688 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1689 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1695 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1696 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1697 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1698 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1699 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1700 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1701 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1702 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1703 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1704 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1705 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1706 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1707 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1708 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1709 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1710 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1711 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1715 @node Group Buffer Format
1716 @section Group Buffer Format
1719 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1720 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1721 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1725 @node Group Line Specification
1726 @subsection Group Line Specification
1727 @cindex group buffer format
1729 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1730 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1732 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1735 25: news.announce.newusers
1736 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1741 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1742 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1743 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1744 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1746 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1747 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1748 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1749 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1750 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1751 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1753 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1755 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1756 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1757 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1758 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1759 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1761 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1762 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1763 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1765 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1770 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1773 Whether the group is subscribed.
1776 Level of subscribedness.
1779 Number of unread articles.
1782 Number of dormant articles.
1785 Number of ticked articles.
1788 Number of read articles.
1791 Number of unseen articles.
1794 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1795 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1797 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1798 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1799 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1800 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1801 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1802 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1803 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1804 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1807 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1810 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1819 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1820 comment element in the group parameters.
1823 Newsgroup description.
1826 @samp{m} if moderated.
1829 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1835 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1841 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1845 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1848 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1849 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1850 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1851 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1852 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1855 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1857 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1861 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1864 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1868 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1869 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1870 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1871 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1872 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1873 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1878 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1879 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1880 group, or a bogus native group.
1883 @node Group Modeline Specification
1884 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1885 @cindex group modeline
1887 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1888 The mode line can be changed by setting
1889 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1890 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1894 The native news server.
1896 The native select method.
1900 @node Group Highlighting
1901 @subsection Group Highlighting
1902 @cindex highlighting
1903 @cindex group highlighting
1905 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1906 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1907 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1908 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1909 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1911 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1915 (cond (window-system
1916 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1917 (defface my-group-face-1
1918 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1919 (defface my-group-face-2
1920 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1921 (defface my-group-face-3
1922 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1923 (defface my-group-face-4
1924 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1925 (defface my-group-face-5
1926 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1928 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1929 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1930 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1931 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1932 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1933 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1936 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1938 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1945 The number of unread articles in the group.
1949 Whether the group is a mail group.
1951 The level of the group.
1953 The score of the group.
1955 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1957 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1958 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1960 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1961 topic being inserted.
1964 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1965 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1966 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1968 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1969 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1970 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1971 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1972 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1975 @node Group Maneuvering
1976 @section Group Maneuvering
1977 @cindex group movement
1979 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1980 expected, hopefully.
1986 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1987 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1995 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1996 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2001 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2005 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2006 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2011 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2012 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2021 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2027 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2028 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2029 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2034 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2035 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2036 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2040 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2041 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2042 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2045 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2046 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2047 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2048 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2052 @node Selecting a Group
2053 @section Selecting a Group
2054 @cindex group selection
2059 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2060 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2061 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2062 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2063 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2064 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2065 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2066 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2067 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2068 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2070 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2071 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2072 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2074 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2075 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2080 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2081 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2082 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2083 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2084 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2088 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2089 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2090 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2091 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2092 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2093 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2094 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2095 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2096 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2097 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2100 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2101 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2102 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2103 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2104 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2107 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2108 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2109 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2110 doing any processing of its contents
2111 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2112 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2113 manner will have no permanent effects.
2117 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2118 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2119 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2120 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2121 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2122 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2123 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2124 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2127 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2128 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2129 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2130 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2131 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2132 Which article this is is controlled by the
2133 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2139 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2142 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2145 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2147 @item unseen-or-unread
2148 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2149 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2153 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2157 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2158 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2160 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2161 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2162 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2163 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2167 @node Subscription Commands
2168 @section Subscription Commands
2169 @cindex subscription
2177 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2178 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2179 Toggle subscription to the current group
2180 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2186 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2187 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2188 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2189 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2195 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2196 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2197 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2203 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2204 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2207 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2208 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2209 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2210 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2211 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2217 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2218 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2222 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2223 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2226 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2227 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2228 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2229 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2230 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2231 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2232 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2233 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2234 @file{.newsrc} file.
2238 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2248 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2249 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2250 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2251 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2252 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2253 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2258 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2259 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2260 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2265 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2266 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2268 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2269 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2270 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2271 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2272 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2273 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2280 @section Group Levels
2284 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2285 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2286 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2287 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2288 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2290 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2296 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2297 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2298 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2299 prompted for a level.
2302 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2303 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2304 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2305 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2306 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2307 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2308 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2309 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2310 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2311 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2312 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2313 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2314 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2315 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2316 reasons of efficiency.
2318 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2319 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2321 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2322 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2323 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2324 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2325 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2326 groups are hidden, in a way.
2328 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2329 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2330 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2331 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2332 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2333 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2335 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2336 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2337 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2338 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2339 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2340 list of killed groups.)
2342 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2343 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2344 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2346 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2347 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2348 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2349 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2350 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2351 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2352 relevant valid ranges.
2354 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2355 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2356 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2357 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2358 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2359 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2362 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2363 one with the best level.
2365 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2366 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2367 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2370 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2371 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2372 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2373 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2376 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2377 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2378 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2379 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2381 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2382 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2383 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2384 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2385 to 5. The default is 6.
2389 @section Group Score
2394 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2395 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2396 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2399 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2400 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2401 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2402 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2403 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2404 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2405 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2406 least significant part.))
2408 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2409 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2410 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2411 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2412 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2413 action after each summary exit, you can add
2414 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2415 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2416 slow things down somewhat.
2419 @node Marking Groups
2420 @section Marking Groups
2421 @cindex marking groups
2423 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2424 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2425 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2426 bidding on those groups.
2428 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2429 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2430 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2438 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2439 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2445 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2446 Remove the mark from the current group
2447 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2451 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2452 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2456 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2457 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2461 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2462 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2466 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2467 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2468 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2471 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2473 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2474 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2475 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2476 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2477 the command to be executed.
2480 @node Foreign Groups
2481 @section Foreign Groups
2482 @cindex foreign groups
2484 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2485 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2486 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2487 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2494 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2495 @cindex making groups
2496 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2497 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2498 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2502 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2503 @cindex renaming groups
2504 Rename the current group to something else
2505 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2506 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2512 @findex gnus-group-customize
2513 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2517 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2518 @cindex renaming groups
2519 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2520 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2524 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2525 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2526 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2531 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2532 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2536 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2538 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2539 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2544 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2545 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2549 @cindex (ding) archive
2550 @cindex archive group
2551 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2552 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2553 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2554 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2555 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2556 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2557 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2561 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2563 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2564 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2565 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2566 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2570 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2572 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2573 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2574 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2579 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2581 Make a group based on some file or other
2582 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2583 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2584 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2585 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2586 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2587 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2588 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2589 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2590 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2594 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2596 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2597 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2601 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2605 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2606 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2607 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2608 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2609 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2610 @xref{Web Searches}.
2612 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2613 to a particular group by using a match string like
2614 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2617 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2618 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2619 This function will delete the current group
2620 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2621 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2622 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2623 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2624 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2628 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2629 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2630 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2634 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2635 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2636 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2639 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2642 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2643 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2644 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2645 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2646 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2647 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2651 @node Group Parameters
2652 @section Group Parameters
2653 @cindex group parameters
2655 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2656 Here's an example group parameter list:
2659 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2663 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2664 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2665 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2666 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2668 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2669 is an alist of regexps and values.
2671 The following group parameters can be used:
2676 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2679 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2682 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2683 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2684 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2685 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2686 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2688 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2689 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2690 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2691 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2692 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2693 list address instead.
2695 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2699 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2702 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2705 It is totally ignored
2706 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2707 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2709 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2710 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2711 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2712 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2713 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2715 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2716 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2717 sending the message.
2719 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2720 @cindex Mail List Groups
2721 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2722 entering summary buffer.
2724 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2729 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2730 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2731 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2732 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2733 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2734 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2736 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2737 directly uses this group parameter.
2741 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2742 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2743 of whether it has any unread articles.
2745 @item broken-reply-to
2746 @cindex broken-reply-to
2747 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2748 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2749 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2750 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2751 broken behavior. So there!
2755 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2756 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2760 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2761 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2762 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2767 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2768 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2769 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2770 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2771 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2772 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2773 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2774 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2775 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2779 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2780 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2781 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2783 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2786 @cindex total-expire
2787 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2788 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2789 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2790 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2793 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2797 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2798 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2799 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2800 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2801 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2802 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2803 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2806 @cindex score file group parameter
2807 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2808 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2809 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2812 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2813 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2814 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2815 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2818 @cindex admin-address
2819 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2820 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2821 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2822 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2826 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2827 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2831 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2834 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2835 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2838 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2842 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2844 Here are some examples:
2848 Display only unread articles.
2851 Display everything except expirable articles.
2853 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2854 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2858 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2859 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2860 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2861 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2862 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2866 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2867 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2868 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2872 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2873 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2874 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2878 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2879 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2880 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2882 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2884 @item ignored-charsets
2885 @cindex ignored-charset
2886 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2887 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2888 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2890 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2893 @cindex posting-style
2894 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2895 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2896 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2897 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2898 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2900 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2901 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2902 like this in the group parameters:
2907 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2908 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2913 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2914 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2918 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2919 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2920 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2921 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2922 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2926 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2927 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2928 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2929 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2931 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2932 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2933 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2934 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2937 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2938 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2942 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2945 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2946 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2947 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2948 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2949 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2950 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2951 @code{eval}ed there.
2953 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2954 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2955 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2956 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2957 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2958 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2959 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2960 parameters for the group.
2963 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2964 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2965 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2966 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2967 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2971 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2972 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2973 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2974 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2975 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2977 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2978 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2982 (setq gnus-parameters
2984 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2985 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2986 (gnus-summary-line-format
2987 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2991 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2995 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2999 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3002 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3003 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3006 @node Listing Groups
3007 @section Listing Groups
3008 @cindex group listing
3010 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3018 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3019 List all groups that have unread articles
3020 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3021 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3022 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3023 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3030 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3031 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3032 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3033 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3034 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3035 unsubscribed groups).
3039 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3040 List all unread groups on a specific level
3041 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3042 with no unread articles.
3046 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3047 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3048 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3049 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3054 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3055 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3059 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3060 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3061 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3065 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3066 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3070 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3071 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3072 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3073 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3074 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3075 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3076 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3077 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3081 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3082 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3083 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3087 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3088 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3089 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3093 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3094 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3098 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3099 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3103 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3104 List groups limited within the current selection
3105 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3109 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3110 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3114 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3115 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3119 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3120 @cindex visible group parameter
3121 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3122 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3123 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3124 get the same effect.
3126 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3127 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3128 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3129 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3130 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3133 @node Sorting Groups
3134 @section Sorting Groups
3135 @cindex sorting groups
3137 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3138 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3139 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3140 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3141 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3142 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3147 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3148 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3149 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3153 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3157 Sort by group level.
3159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3161 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3163 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3164 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3165 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3166 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3168 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3169 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3170 Sort by number of unread articles.
3172 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3174 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3176 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3177 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3178 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3183 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3184 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3188 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3189 some sorting criteria:
3193 @kindex G S a (Group)
3194 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3195 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3196 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3199 @kindex G S u (Group)
3200 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3201 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3202 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3205 @kindex G S l (Group)
3206 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3207 Sort the group buffer by group level
3208 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3211 @kindex G S v (Group)
3212 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3213 Sort the group buffer by group score
3214 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3217 @kindex G S r (Group)
3218 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3219 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3220 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3223 @kindex G S m (Group)
3224 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3225 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3226 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3229 @kindex G S n (Group)
3230 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3231 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3232 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3236 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3237 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3239 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3240 commands will sort in reverse order.
3242 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3246 @kindex G P a (Group)
3247 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3248 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3249 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3252 @kindex G P u (Group)
3253 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3254 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3255 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3258 @kindex G P l (Group)
3259 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3260 Sort the groups by group level
3261 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3264 @kindex G P v (Group)
3265 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3266 Sort the groups by group score
3267 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3270 @kindex G P r (Group)
3271 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3272 Sort the groups by group rank
3273 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3276 @kindex G P m (Group)
3277 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3278 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3279 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3282 @kindex G P n (Group)
3283 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3284 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3285 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3288 @kindex G P s (Group)
3289 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3290 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3294 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3298 @node Group Maintenance
3299 @section Group Maintenance
3300 @cindex bogus groups
3305 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3306 Find bogus groups and delete them
3307 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3311 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3312 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3313 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3314 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3315 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3319 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3320 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3321 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3322 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3323 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3324 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3327 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3328 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3329 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3330 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3335 @node Browse Foreign Server
3336 @section Browse Foreign Server
3337 @cindex foreign servers
3338 @cindex browsing servers
3343 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3344 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3345 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3346 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3349 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3350 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3351 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3352 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3354 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3359 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3360 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3364 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3365 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3368 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3369 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3370 Enter the current group and display the first article
3371 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3374 @kindex RET (Browse)
3375 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3376 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3380 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3381 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3382 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3388 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3389 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3393 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3394 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3398 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3399 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3400 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3405 @section Exiting gnus
3406 @cindex exiting gnus
3408 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3413 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3414 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3415 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3416 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3420 @findex gnus-group-exit
3421 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3422 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3426 @findex gnus-group-quit
3427 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3428 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3431 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3432 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3433 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3434 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3435 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3440 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3441 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3442 trying to customize meta-variables.
3447 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3448 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3449 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3455 @section Group Topics
3458 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3459 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3460 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3461 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3462 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3463 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3467 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3468 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3479 2: alt.religion.emacs
3482 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3484 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3485 13: comp.sources.unix
3488 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3490 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3491 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3492 is a toggling command.)
3494 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3495 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3496 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3497 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3500 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3501 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3502 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3505 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3509 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3510 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3511 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3512 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3513 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3517 @node Topic Commands
3518 @subsection Topic Commands
3519 @cindex topic commands
3521 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3522 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3523 definitions slightly.
3525 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3526 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3527 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3528 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3529 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3530 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3532 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3539 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3540 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3541 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3545 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3547 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3548 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3549 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3550 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3553 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3554 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3555 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3556 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3560 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3561 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3562 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3563 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3569 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3570 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3571 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3575 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3576 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3577 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3580 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3581 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3582 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3583 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3584 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3586 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3587 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3591 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3592 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3599 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3601 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3602 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3603 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3604 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3605 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3606 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3610 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3616 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3617 Move the current group to some other topic
3618 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3619 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3623 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3624 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3628 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3629 Copy the current group to some other topic
3630 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3631 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3635 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3636 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3637 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3641 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3642 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3643 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3647 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3648 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3649 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3650 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3651 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3652 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3653 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3656 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3657 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3661 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3662 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3663 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3667 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3668 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3669 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3673 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3674 Toggle hiding empty topics
3675 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3679 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3680 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3681 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3684 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3685 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3686 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3687 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3690 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3691 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3692 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3693 expiry process (if any)
3694 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3698 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3699 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3702 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3703 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3704 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3708 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3709 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3710 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3713 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3714 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3715 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3718 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3719 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3720 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3724 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3725 @cindex group parameters
3726 @cindex topic parameters
3728 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3729 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3734 @node Topic Variables
3735 @subsection Topic Variables
3736 @cindex topic variables
3738 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3739 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3741 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3742 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3743 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3756 Number of groups in the topic.
3758 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3760 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3763 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3764 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3765 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3768 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3769 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3771 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3772 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3773 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3777 @subsection Topic Sorting
3778 @cindex topic sorting
3780 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3786 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3787 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3788 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3789 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3792 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3794 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3795 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3798 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3799 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3800 Sort the current topic by group level
3801 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3804 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3805 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3806 Sort the current topic by group score
3807 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3810 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3811 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3812 Sort the current topic by group rank
3813 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3816 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3817 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3818 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3819 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3822 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3823 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3824 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3825 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3829 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3830 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3831 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3832 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3836 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3837 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3841 @node Topic Topology
3842 @subsection Topic Topology
3843 @cindex topic topology
3846 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3852 2: alt.religion.emacs
3855 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3857 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3858 13: comp.sources.unix
3861 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3862 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3863 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3868 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3869 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3873 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3874 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3875 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3876 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3877 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3878 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3880 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3881 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3882 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3885 @node Topic Parameters
3886 @subsection Topic Parameters
3887 @cindex topic parameters
3889 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3890 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3891 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3893 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3898 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3899 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3900 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3903 @item subscribe-level
3904 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3905 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3906 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3910 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3911 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3912 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3913 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3919 2: alt.religion.emacs
3923 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3925 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3926 13: comp.sources.unix
3930 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3931 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3932 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3933 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3934 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3935 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3937 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3938 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3939 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3940 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3941 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3943 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3944 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3945 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3946 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3947 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3948 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3949 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3950 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3953 @node Misc Group Stuff
3954 @section Misc Group Stuff
3957 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3958 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3959 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3960 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3961 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3968 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3969 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3970 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3974 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3975 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3976 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3977 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3978 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3979 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3980 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3984 @findex gnus-group-mail
3985 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3986 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3987 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3988 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3992 @findex gnus-group-news
3993 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3994 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3995 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3997 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3998 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3999 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4000 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4001 for this to work though.
4005 Variables for the group buffer:
4009 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4010 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4011 is called after the group buffer has been
4014 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4015 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4016 is called after the group buffer is
4017 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4020 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4021 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4022 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4023 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4025 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4026 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4027 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4028 whether they are empty or not.
4030 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4031 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4032 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4033 non-ASCII group names.
4037 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4038 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4041 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4042 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4043 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4044 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4045 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4046 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4051 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4052 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4057 @node Scanning New Messages
4058 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4059 @cindex new messages
4060 @cindex scanning new news
4066 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4067 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4068 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4069 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4070 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4071 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4076 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4077 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4078 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4079 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4080 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4081 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4082 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4084 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4085 @cindex activating groups
4087 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4088 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4093 @findex gnus-group-restart
4094 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4095 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4096 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4100 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4101 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4103 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4104 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4108 @node Group Information
4109 @subsection Group Information
4110 @cindex group information
4111 @cindex information on groups
4118 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4119 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4122 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4123 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4124 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4125 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4126 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4127 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4128 for fetching the file.
4130 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4131 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4135 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4136 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4138 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4139 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4142 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4143 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4144 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4148 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4149 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4150 @cindex control message
4151 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4152 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4153 group if given a prefix argument.
4155 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4156 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4157 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4158 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4160 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4161 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4162 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4166 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4168 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4169 @cindex describing groups
4170 @cindex group description
4171 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4172 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4173 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4177 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4178 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4179 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4186 @findex gnus-version
4187 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4191 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4192 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4195 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4198 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4199 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4203 @node Group Timestamp
4204 @subsection Group Timestamp
4206 @cindex group timestamps
4208 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4209 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4210 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4213 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4216 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4218 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4219 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4222 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4223 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4226 This will result in lines looking like:
4229 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4230 0: custom 19961002T012713
4233 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4234 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4238 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4239 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4242 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4243 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4247 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4248 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4249 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4250 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4252 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4258 @subsection File Commands
4259 @cindex file commands
4265 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4266 @vindex gnus-init-file
4267 @cindex reading init file
4268 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4269 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4273 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4274 @cindex saving .newsrc
4275 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4276 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4277 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4280 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4281 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4282 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4287 @node Sieve Commands
4288 @subsection Sieve Commands
4289 @cindex group sieve commands
4291 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4292 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4293 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4294 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4295 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4297 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4298 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4299 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4300 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4301 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4302 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4303 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4304 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4305 regenerate the Sieve script.
4307 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4308 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4309 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4310 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4311 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4312 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4313 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4314 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4315 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4316 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4319 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4320 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4325 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4331 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4332 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4333 @cindex generating sieve script
4334 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4335 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4339 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4340 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4341 @cindex updating sieve script
4342 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4343 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4344 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4349 @node Summary Buffer
4350 @chapter Summary Buffer
4351 @cindex summary buffer
4353 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4354 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4356 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4357 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4359 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4362 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4363 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4364 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4365 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4366 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4367 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4368 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4369 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4370 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4371 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4372 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4373 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4374 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4375 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4376 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4377 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4378 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4379 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4380 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4381 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4382 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4383 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4384 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4385 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4386 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4387 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4388 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4389 or reselecting the current group.
4390 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4391 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4392 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4393 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4397 @node Summary Buffer Format
4398 @section Summary Buffer Format
4399 @cindex summary buffer format
4403 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4404 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4405 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4411 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4412 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4413 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4414 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4417 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4418 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4419 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4420 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4421 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4422 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4423 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4424 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4425 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4426 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4427 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4428 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4429 other function instead:
4432 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4433 'mail-extract-address-components)
4436 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4437 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4438 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4439 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4442 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4443 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4445 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4446 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4447 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4448 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4449 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4451 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4452 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4453 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4454 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4455 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4456 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4458 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4460 The following format specification characters and extended format
4461 specification(s) are understood:
4467 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4468 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4470 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4471 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4472 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4474 Full @code{From} header.
4476 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4478 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4481 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4482 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4483 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4484 may be more thorough.
4486 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4489 Number of lines in the article.
4491 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4492 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4494 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4495 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4497 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4499 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4500 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4513 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4514 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4515 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4518 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4519 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4520 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4521 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4523 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4524 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4525 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4526 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4528 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4529 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4530 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4532 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4533 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4534 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4536 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4537 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4538 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4540 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4541 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4542 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4547 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4548 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4550 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4551 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4553 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4554 for adopted articles.
4556 One space for each thread level.
4558 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4560 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4563 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4564 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4565 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4568 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4570 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4571 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4572 default level. If the difference between
4573 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4574 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4582 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4584 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4590 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4591 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4593 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4594 article has any children.
4600 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4601 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4603 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4604 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4605 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4606 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4607 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4608 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4611 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4612 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4613 There can only be one such area.
4615 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4616 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4617 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4618 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4619 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4620 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4622 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4623 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4625 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4628 @node To From Newsgroups
4629 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4633 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4634 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4635 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4636 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4637 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4641 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4642 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4643 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4647 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4648 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4651 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4652 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4655 @findex gnus-extra-header
4656 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4657 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4658 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4661 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4665 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4666 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4667 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4668 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4669 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4670 headers are used instead.
4674 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4675 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4676 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4677 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4678 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4679 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4681 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4682 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4683 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4684 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4686 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4690 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4692 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4693 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4694 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4695 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4699 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4702 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4703 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4706 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4707 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4708 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4714 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4715 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4718 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4719 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4721 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4722 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4723 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4724 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4726 Here are the elements you can play with:
4732 Unprefixed group name.
4734 Current article number.
4736 Current article score.
4740 Number of unread articles in this group.
4742 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4745 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4746 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4747 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4748 and no unselected ones.
4750 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4751 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4753 Subject of the current article.
4755 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4757 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4759 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4761 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4763 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4765 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4769 @node Summary Highlighting
4770 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4774 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4775 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4776 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4777 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4778 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4780 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4781 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4782 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4783 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4785 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4786 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4787 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4788 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4790 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4791 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4792 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4793 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4794 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4795 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4798 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4799 ((> score default) . bold))
4801 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4802 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4806 @node Summary Maneuvering
4807 @section Summary Maneuvering
4808 @cindex summary movement
4810 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4811 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4813 None of these commands select articles.
4818 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4819 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4820 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4821 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4822 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4826 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4827 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4829 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4830 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4833 @kindex G g (Summary)
4834 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4835 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4836 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4839 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4840 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4841 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4842 to the group buffer.
4844 Variables related to summary movement:
4848 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4849 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4850 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4851 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4852 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4853 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4854 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4855 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4856 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4857 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4858 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4859 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4860 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4861 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4863 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4864 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4865 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4866 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4867 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4868 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4869 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4871 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4873 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4874 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4875 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4876 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4877 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4879 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4880 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4881 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4882 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4883 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4884 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4885 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4886 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4889 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4890 the given number of lines from the top.
4895 @node Choosing Articles
4896 @section Choosing Articles
4897 @cindex selecting articles
4900 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4901 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4905 @node Choosing Commands
4906 @subsection Choosing Commands
4908 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4909 and they all select and display an article.
4911 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4912 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4916 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4917 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4918 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4919 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4924 @kindex G n (Summary)
4925 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4926 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4927 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4932 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4933 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4934 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4939 @kindex G N (Summary)
4940 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4941 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4946 @kindex G P (Summary)
4947 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4948 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4951 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4953 Go to the next article with the same subject
4954 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4957 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4959 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4960 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4964 @kindex G f (Summary)
4966 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4967 Go to the first unread article
4968 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4972 @kindex G b (Summary)
4974 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4975 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4976 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4977 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4982 @kindex G l (Summary)
4983 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4984 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4987 @kindex G o (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4990 @cindex article history
4991 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4992 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4993 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4994 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4995 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4996 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5001 @kindex G j (Summary)
5002 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5003 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5004 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5009 @node Choosing Variables
5010 @subsection Choosing Variables
5012 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5015 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5016 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5017 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5018 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5019 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5020 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5022 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5023 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5024 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5025 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you wish
5026 that the Agent saves all articles you read, putting
5027 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook should do it.
5029 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5030 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5031 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5032 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5033 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5034 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5035 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5036 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5037 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5038 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5039 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5040 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5041 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5042 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5047 @node Paging the Article
5048 @section Scrolling the Article
5049 @cindex article scrolling
5054 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5055 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5056 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5057 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5058 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5061 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5063 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5066 @kindex RET (Summary)
5067 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5068 Scroll the current article one line forward
5069 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5072 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5074 Scroll the current article one line backward
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5079 @kindex A g (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5082 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5083 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5084 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5085 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5086 the way it came from the server.
5088 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5089 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5090 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5093 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5098 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5103 @kindex A < (Summary)
5104 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5105 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5106 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5111 @kindex A > (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5113 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5117 @kindex A s (Summary)
5119 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5120 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5121 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5125 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5126 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5131 @node Reply Followup and Post
5132 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5135 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5136 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5137 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5138 * Canceling and Superseding::
5142 @node Summary Mail Commands
5143 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5145 @cindex composing mail
5147 Commands for composing a mail message:
5153 @kindex S r (Summary)
5155 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5156 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5157 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5158 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5159 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5164 @kindex S R (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5166 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5167 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5168 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5169 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5172 @kindex S w (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5174 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5175 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5176 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5177 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5180 @kindex S W (Summary)
5181 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5182 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5183 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5184 the process/prefix convention.
5187 @kindex S v (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5189 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5190 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5191 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5192 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5193 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5196 @kindex S V (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5198 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5199 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5200 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5203 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5205 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5206 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5209 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5211 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5212 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5217 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5218 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5219 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5220 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5221 Forward the current article to some other person
5222 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5223 headers of the forwarded article.
5228 @kindex S m (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5230 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5231 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5232 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5233 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5238 @kindex S i (Summary)
5239 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5240 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5241 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5242 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5244 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5245 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5246 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5247 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5248 for this to work though.
5251 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5252 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5253 @cindex bouncing mail
5254 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5255 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5256 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5257 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5258 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5259 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5260 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5261 very well fail, though.
5264 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5266 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5267 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5268 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5269 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5270 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5271 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5272 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5273 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5275 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5276 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5277 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5278 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5279 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5281 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5282 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5285 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5287 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5288 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5289 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5292 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5294 @cindex crossposting
5295 @cindex excessive crossposting
5296 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5297 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5299 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5300 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5301 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5302 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5303 command understands the process/prefix convention
5304 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5308 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5309 Manual}, for more information.
5312 @node Summary Post Commands
5313 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5315 @cindex composing news
5317 Commands for posting a news article:
5323 @kindex S p (Summary)
5324 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5325 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5326 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5327 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5328 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5333 @kindex S f (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5335 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5336 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5340 @kindex S F (Summary)
5342 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5343 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5344 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5345 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5346 process/prefix convention.
5349 @kindex S n (Summary)
5350 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5351 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5352 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5355 @kindex S N (Summary)
5356 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5357 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5358 message through mail and include the original message
5359 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5360 the process/prefix convention.
5363 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5364 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5365 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5366 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5367 headers of the forwarded article.
5370 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5371 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5373 @cindex making digests
5374 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5375 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5376 process/prefix convention.
5379 @kindex S u (Summary)
5380 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5381 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5382 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5383 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5386 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5387 Manual}, for more information.
5390 @node Summary Message Commands
5391 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5395 @kindex S y (Summary)
5396 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5397 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5398 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5399 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5400 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5405 @node Canceling and Superseding
5406 @subsection Canceling Articles
5407 @cindex canceling articles
5408 @cindex superseding articles
5410 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5411 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5413 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5415 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5417 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5418 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5419 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5420 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5421 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5422 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5424 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5425 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5428 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5429 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5430 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5432 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5433 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5434 your original article.
5436 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5438 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5439 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5440 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5443 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5444 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5445 have posted almost the same article twice.
5447 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5448 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5449 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5450 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5451 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5452 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5453 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5454 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5455 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5456 canceled/superseded.
5458 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5460 @node Delayed Articles
5461 @section Delayed Articles
5462 @cindex delayed sending
5463 @cindex send delayed
5465 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5466 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5467 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5468 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5471 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5474 @findex gnus-delay-article
5475 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5476 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5477 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5478 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5482 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5483 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5484 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5485 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5488 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5489 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5490 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5493 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5494 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5495 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5496 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5497 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5498 that means a time tomorrow.
5501 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5502 couple of variables:
5505 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5506 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5507 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5508 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5510 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5511 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5512 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5513 formats described above.
5515 @item gnus-delay-group
5516 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5517 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5518 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5519 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5521 @item gnus-delay-header
5522 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5523 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5524 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5525 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5528 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5529 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5530 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5531 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5532 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5534 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5535 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5536 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5537 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5538 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5539 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5542 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5543 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5545 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5546 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5547 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5548 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5549 argument is ignored.
5551 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5552 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5553 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5557 @node Marking Articles
5558 @section Marking Articles
5559 @cindex article marking
5560 @cindex article ticking
5563 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5565 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5566 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5567 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5569 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5572 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5573 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5574 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5578 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5582 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5583 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5584 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5588 @node Unread Articles
5589 @subsection Unread Articles
5591 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5596 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5597 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5599 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5600 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5601 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5602 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5603 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5604 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5605 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5608 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5609 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5611 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5612 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5613 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5614 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5618 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5619 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5621 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5626 @subsection Read Articles
5627 @cindex expirable mark
5629 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5634 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5635 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5636 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5639 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5640 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5643 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5644 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5645 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5648 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5649 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5652 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5653 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5656 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5657 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5660 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5661 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5664 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5665 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5668 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5669 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5672 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5673 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5677 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5678 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5679 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5683 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5684 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5686 One more special mark, though:
5690 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5691 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5693 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5694 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5695 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5696 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5702 @subsection Other Marks
5703 @cindex process mark
5706 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5712 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5713 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5714 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5715 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5716 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5719 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5720 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5721 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5722 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5725 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5726 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5727 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5730 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5731 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5732 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5735 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5736 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5737 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5738 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5741 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5742 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5743 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5744 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5745 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5746 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5749 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5750 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5751 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5752 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5755 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5756 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
5757 have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
5758 offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
5759 first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
5760 which character to use.)
5763 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5764 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5765 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5766 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5767 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5768 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5772 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5773 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5774 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5775 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5776 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5779 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5780 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5781 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5782 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5783 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5784 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5788 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5789 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5790 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5792 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5793 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5794 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5798 @subsection Setting Marks
5799 @cindex setting marks
5801 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5806 @kindex M c (Summary)
5807 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5809 @cindex mark as unread
5810 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5811 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5817 @kindex M t (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5819 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5820 @xref{Article Caching}.
5825 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5827 Mark the current article as dormant
5828 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5832 @kindex M d (Summary)
5834 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5835 Mark the current article as read
5836 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5840 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5841 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5842 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5847 @kindex M k (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5849 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5850 and then select the next unread article
5851 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5855 @kindex M K (Summary)
5856 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5857 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5858 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5859 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5862 @kindex M C (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5864 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5865 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5868 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5869 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5870 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5871 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5874 @kindex M H (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5876 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5877 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5880 @kindex M h (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5882 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5883 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5886 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5887 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5888 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5889 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5892 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5893 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5894 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5895 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5899 @kindex M e (Summary)
5901 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5902 Mark the current article as expirable
5903 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5906 @kindex M b (Summary)
5907 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5908 Set a bookmark in the current article
5909 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5912 @kindex M B (Summary)
5913 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5914 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5915 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5918 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5919 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5920 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5921 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5924 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5926 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5927 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5930 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5931 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5932 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5933 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5934 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5937 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5938 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5939 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5940 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5941 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5942 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5943 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5944 The default is @code{t}.
5947 @node Generic Marking Commands
5948 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5950 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5951 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5952 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5953 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5954 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5957 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5958 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5961 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5962 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5963 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5964 to list in this manual.
5966 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5967 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5968 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5969 article, you could say something like:
5972 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5973 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5974 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5980 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5981 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5985 @node Setting Process Marks
5986 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5987 @cindex setting process marks
5989 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
5990 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
5991 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
5992 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
5993 commands into the cache. For more information,
5994 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6001 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6002 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6003 Mark the current article with the process mark
6004 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6005 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6009 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6010 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6011 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6012 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6015 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6017 Remove the process mark from all articles
6018 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6021 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6022 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6023 Invert the list of process marked articles
6024 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6027 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6028 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6029 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6030 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6033 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6034 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6035 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6036 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6039 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6040 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6041 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6045 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6046 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6049 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6050 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6051 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6052 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6055 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6056 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6057 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6058 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6061 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6062 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6063 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6064 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6067 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6068 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6069 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6072 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6074 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6075 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6078 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6079 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6080 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6083 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6084 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6085 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6086 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6089 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6090 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6091 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6092 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6095 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6096 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6097 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6098 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6101 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6102 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6103 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6104 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6108 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6109 set process marks based on article body contents.
6116 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6117 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6118 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6121 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6122 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6123 additional articles.
6129 @kindex / / (Summary)
6130 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6131 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6132 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6136 @kindex / a (Summary)
6137 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6138 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6139 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6143 @kindex / x (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6145 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6146 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6147 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6152 @kindex / u (Summary)
6154 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6155 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6156 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6157 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6158 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6161 @kindex / m (Summary)
6162 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6163 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6164 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6167 @kindex / t (Summary)
6168 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6169 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6170 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6171 articles younger than that number of days.
6174 @kindex / n (Summary)
6175 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6176 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6177 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6178 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6181 @kindex / w (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6183 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6184 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6188 @kindex / . (Summary)
6189 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6190 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6191 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6194 @kindex / v (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6196 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6197 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6200 @kindex / p (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6202 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6203 group parameter predicate
6204 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6205 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6209 @kindex M S (Summary)
6210 @kindex / E (Summary)
6211 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6212 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6213 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6216 @kindex / D (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6218 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6219 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6222 @kindex / * (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6224 Include all cached articles in the limit
6225 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6228 @kindex / d (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6230 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6231 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6234 @kindex / M (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6236 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6239 @kindex / T (Summary)
6240 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6241 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6244 @kindex / c (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6246 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6247 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6250 @kindex / C (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6252 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6253 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6254 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6257 @kindex / N (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6259 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6260 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6263 @kindex / o (Summary)
6264 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6265 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6266 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6274 @cindex article threading
6276 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6277 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6278 hierarchical fashion.
6280 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6281 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6282 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6283 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6284 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6285 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6286 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6288 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6292 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6295 A tree-like article structure.
6298 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6301 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6302 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6303 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6304 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6305 called loose threads.
6307 @item thread gathering
6308 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6310 @item sparse threads
6311 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6312 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6318 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6319 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6323 @node Customizing Threading
6324 @subsection Customizing Threading
6325 @cindex customizing threading
6328 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6329 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6330 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6331 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6336 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6339 @cindex loose threads
6342 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6343 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6344 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6345 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6346 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6347 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6349 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6350 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6351 There are four possible values:
6355 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6356 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6357 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6358 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6359 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6364 @cindex adopting articles
6369 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6370 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6371 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6372 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6375 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6376 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6377 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6378 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6379 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6380 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6381 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6382 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6383 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6384 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6387 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6388 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6389 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6393 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6394 display them after one another.
6397 Don't gather loose threads.
6400 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6401 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6402 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6403 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6404 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6405 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6406 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6407 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6408 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6409 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6410 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6412 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6413 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6414 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6417 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6418 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6419 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6420 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6421 simplification is used.
6423 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6424 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6425 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6426 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6428 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6430 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6436 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6437 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6438 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6439 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6444 (mapconcat 'identity
6445 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6447 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6450 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6453 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6454 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6455 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6456 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6457 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6458 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6460 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6463 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6464 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6465 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6467 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6468 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6471 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6472 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6473 Remove excessive whitespace.
6475 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6476 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6477 Remove all whitespace.
6480 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6483 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6484 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6485 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6486 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6487 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6488 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6489 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6490 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6492 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6493 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6494 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6495 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6496 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6497 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6498 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6499 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6500 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6504 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6505 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6506 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6507 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6509 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6510 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6511 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6514 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6518 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6519 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6525 @node Filling In Threads
6526 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6529 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6530 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6531 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6532 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6533 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6534 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6535 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6536 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6537 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6538 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6539 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6540 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6543 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6544 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6545 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6547 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6548 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6549 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6550 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6551 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6552 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6553 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6554 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6555 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6556 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6557 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6558 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6559 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6560 @code{nil} by default.
6562 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6563 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6564 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6565 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6566 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6567 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6568 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6570 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6571 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6572 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6577 @node More Threading
6578 @subsubsection More Threading
6581 @item gnus-show-threads
6582 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6583 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6584 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6585 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6586 slower and more awkward.
6588 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6589 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6590 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6593 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6594 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6595 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6600 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6601 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6602 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6605 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6606 unread, but you get my drift.)
6609 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6610 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6611 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6612 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6613 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6614 threads are expunged.
6616 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6617 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6618 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6621 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6622 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6623 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6624 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6625 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6626 result in a new thread.
6628 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6629 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6630 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6633 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6634 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6635 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6636 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6637 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6638 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6639 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6640 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6641 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6642 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6643 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6648 @node Low-Level Threading
6649 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6653 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6654 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6655 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6656 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6657 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6658 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6660 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6661 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6662 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6663 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6664 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6665 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6666 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6667 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6668 meaningful. Here's one example:
6671 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6673 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6674 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6676 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6678 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6685 @node Thread Commands
6686 @subsection Thread Commands
6687 @cindex thread commands
6693 @kindex T k (Summary)
6694 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6695 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6696 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6697 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6698 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6703 @kindex T l (Summary)
6704 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6705 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6706 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6707 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6710 @kindex T i (Summary)
6711 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6712 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6713 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6716 @kindex T # (Summary)
6717 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6718 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6719 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6722 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6723 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6724 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6725 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6728 @kindex T T (Summary)
6729 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6730 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6733 @kindex T s (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6735 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6736 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6739 @kindex T h (Summary)
6740 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6741 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6744 @kindex T S (Summary)
6745 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6746 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6749 @kindex T H (Summary)
6750 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6751 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6754 @kindex T t (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6756 Re-thread the current article's thread
6757 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6758 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6761 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6763 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6764 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6768 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6769 understand the numeric prefix.
6774 @kindex T n (Summary)
6776 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6778 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6779 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6780 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6783 @kindex T p (Summary)
6785 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6787 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6788 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6789 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6792 @kindex T d (Summary)
6793 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6794 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6797 @kindex T u (Summary)
6798 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6799 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6802 @kindex T o (Summary)
6803 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6804 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6807 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6808 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6809 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6810 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6811 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6812 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6813 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6814 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6815 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6816 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6817 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6818 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6822 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6823 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6825 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6826 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6827 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6828 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6829 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6830 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6831 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6832 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6833 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6834 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6835 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6836 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6837 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6839 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6840 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6841 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6842 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6843 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6844 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6845 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6846 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6848 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6849 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6850 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6852 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6853 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6854 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6855 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6856 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6857 ascending article order.
6859 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6860 by number, you could do something like:
6863 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6864 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6865 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6866 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6869 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6870 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6871 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6872 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6873 which the articles arrived.
6875 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6879 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6881 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6882 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6885 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6886 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6887 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6888 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6891 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6892 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6893 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6894 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6895 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6896 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6897 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6898 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6899 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6900 variable. It is very similar to the
6901 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6902 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6903 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6904 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6905 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6906 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6907 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6909 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6913 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6914 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6915 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6920 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6921 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6922 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6923 @cindex article pre-fetch
6926 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6927 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6928 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6929 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6930 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6932 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6933 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6935 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6936 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6937 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6938 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6939 connection is blocked.
6941 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6942 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6943 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6944 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6946 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6947 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6948 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6949 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6952 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6955 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6956 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6957 happen automatically.
6959 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6960 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6961 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6962 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6963 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6964 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6965 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6967 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6968 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6969 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6970 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6971 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6972 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6973 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6974 data structure as the only parameter.
6976 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6979 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6980 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6981 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6982 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6985 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6988 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6989 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6990 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6992 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6993 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6994 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6995 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6999 Remove articles when they are read.
7002 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7005 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7007 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7008 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7009 @c from the next group.
7012 @node Article Caching
7013 @section Article Caching
7014 @cindex article caching
7017 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7018 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7019 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7020 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7021 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7023 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7025 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7026 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7027 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7028 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7029 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7030 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7031 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7032 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7034 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7035 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7036 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7037 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7038 as dormant, and don't worry.
7040 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7042 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7043 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7044 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7045 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7046 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7047 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7048 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7049 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7050 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7051 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7053 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7054 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7055 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7056 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7057 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7058 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7059 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7060 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7061 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7062 not then be downloaded by this command.
7064 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7065 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7066 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7067 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7068 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7069 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7071 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7072 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7073 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7074 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7075 variables, the group is not cached.
7077 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7078 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7079 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7080 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7081 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7082 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7083 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7084 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7085 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7088 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7089 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7090 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7091 where, isn't that cool?
7093 @node Persistent Articles
7094 @section Persistent Articles
7095 @cindex persistent articles
7097 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7098 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7099 useful in my opinion.
7101 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7102 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7103 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7104 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7105 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7106 the expiry going on at the news server.
7108 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7109 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7110 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7116 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7117 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7120 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7121 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7122 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7123 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7127 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7129 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7130 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7131 interested in persistent articles:
7134 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7138 @node Article Backlog
7139 @section Article Backlog
7141 @cindex article backlog
7143 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7144 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7145 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7146 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7147 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7148 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7149 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7150 increase memory usage some.
7152 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7153 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7154 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7155 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7156 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7157 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7158 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7160 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7163 @node Saving Articles
7164 @section Saving Articles
7165 @cindex saving articles
7167 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7168 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7169 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7170 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7171 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7173 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7174 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7175 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7177 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7178 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7179 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7181 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7182 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7183 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7184 deleted before saving.
7190 @kindex O o (Summary)
7192 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7193 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7194 Save the current article using the default article saver
7195 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7198 @kindex O m (Summary)
7199 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7200 Save the current article in mail format
7201 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7204 @kindex O r (Summary)
7205 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7206 Save the current article in rmail format
7207 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7210 @kindex O f (Summary)
7211 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7212 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7213 Save the current article in plain file format
7214 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7217 @kindex O F (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7219 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7220 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7223 @kindex O b (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7225 Save the current article body in plain file format
7226 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7229 @kindex O h (Summary)
7230 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7231 Save the current article in mh folder format
7232 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7235 @kindex O v (Summary)
7236 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7237 Save the current article in a VM folder
7238 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7242 @kindex O p (Summary)
7244 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7245 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7246 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7247 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7248 complete headers in the piped output.
7251 @kindex O P (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7253 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7254 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7255 external program Muttprint (see
7256 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7257 options to use is controlled by the variable
7258 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7262 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7263 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7264 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7265 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7266 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7267 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7268 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7269 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7270 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7271 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7272 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7273 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7277 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7278 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7279 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7280 functions below, or you can create your own.
7284 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7285 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7286 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7287 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7288 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7289 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7290 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7292 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7293 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7294 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7295 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7296 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7297 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7299 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7300 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7301 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7302 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7303 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7304 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7305 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7307 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7308 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7309 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7310 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7311 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7312 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7314 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7315 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7316 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7317 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7318 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7320 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7321 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7322 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7323 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7324 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7327 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7328 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7329 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7330 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7331 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7333 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7334 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7335 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7336 reader to use this setting.
7339 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7340 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7341 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7342 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7345 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7346 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7347 available functions that generate names:
7351 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7352 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7353 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7355 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7356 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7357 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7359 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7360 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7361 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7363 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7364 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7365 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7367 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7368 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7369 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7372 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7373 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7374 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7375 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7376 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7380 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7381 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7382 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7383 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7386 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7387 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7388 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7389 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7390 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7391 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7392 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7393 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7394 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7396 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7397 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7398 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7399 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7401 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7402 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7403 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7406 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7407 lots of mail groups called things like
7408 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7409 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7410 following will do just that:
7413 (defun my-save-name (group)
7414 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7415 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7417 (setq gnus-split-methods
7418 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7423 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7424 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7425 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7426 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7427 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7428 all the files in the top level directory
7429 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7430 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7431 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7432 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7434 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7435 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7436 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7437 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7438 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7441 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7445 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7446 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7447 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7450 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7451 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7452 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7453 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7456 @node Decoding Articles
7457 @section Decoding Articles
7458 @cindex decoding articles
7460 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7461 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7464 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7465 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7466 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7467 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7468 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7469 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7473 @cindex article series
7474 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7475 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7476 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7477 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7478 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7480 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7481 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7482 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7484 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7485 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7486 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7488 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7489 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7490 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7493 @node Uuencoded Articles
7494 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7496 @cindex uuencoded articles
7501 @kindex X u (Summary)
7502 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7503 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7504 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7507 @kindex X U (Summary)
7508 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7509 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7510 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7513 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7515 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7518 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7519 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7520 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7521 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7525 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7526 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7527 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7528 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7529 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7531 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7532 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7533 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7534 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7537 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7538 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7539 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7540 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7541 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7542 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7546 @node Shell Archives
7547 @subsection Shell Archives
7549 @cindex shell archives
7550 @cindex shared articles
7552 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7553 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7554 some commands to deal with these:
7559 @kindex X s (Summary)
7560 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7561 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7564 @kindex X S (Summary)
7565 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7566 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7569 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7570 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7571 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7574 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7575 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7576 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7577 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7581 @node PostScript Files
7582 @subsection PostScript Files
7588 @kindex X p (Summary)
7589 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7590 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7593 @kindex X P (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7595 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7596 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7599 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7601 View the current PostScript series
7602 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7605 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7606 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7607 View and save the current PostScript series
7608 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7613 @subsection Other Files
7617 @kindex X o (Summary)
7618 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7619 Save the current series
7620 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7623 @kindex X b (Summary)
7624 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7625 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7626 doesn't really work yet.
7630 @node Decoding Variables
7631 @subsection Decoding Variables
7633 Adjective, not verb.
7636 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7637 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7638 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7642 @node Rule Variables
7643 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7644 @cindex rule variables
7646 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7647 variables are of the form
7650 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7657 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7658 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7660 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7661 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7664 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7665 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7668 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7669 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7670 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7671 user and default view rules.
7673 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7674 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7675 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7680 @node Other Decode Variables
7681 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7684 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7686 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7687 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7688 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7689 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7690 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7694 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7695 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7698 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7699 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7700 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7703 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7704 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7705 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7706 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7707 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7710 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7711 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7712 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7714 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7715 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7716 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7717 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7718 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7721 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7722 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7723 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7725 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7726 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7727 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7728 looking for files to display.
7730 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7731 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7732 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7735 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7736 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7737 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7740 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7741 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7742 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7745 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7746 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7747 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7750 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7751 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7752 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7753 decoded articles as unread.
7755 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7756 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7757 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7758 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7760 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7761 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7762 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7764 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7765 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7767 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7768 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7769 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7770 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7772 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7773 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7774 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7775 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7776 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7777 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7778 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7779 simply dropped them.
7784 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7785 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7789 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7790 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7791 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7792 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7793 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7794 for you when you post the article.
7796 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7797 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7798 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7799 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7801 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7802 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7803 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7804 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7805 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7806 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7807 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7809 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7810 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7811 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7812 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7813 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7814 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7815 Default is @code{t}.
7821 @subsection Viewing Files
7822 @cindex viewing files
7823 @cindex pseudo-articles
7825 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7826 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7827 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7828 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7829 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7830 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7831 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7833 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7834 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7835 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7836 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7838 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7839 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7840 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7842 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7843 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7844 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7845 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7846 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7848 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7849 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7850 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7851 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7852 a list of parameters to that command.
7854 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7855 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7856 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7858 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7859 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7860 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7863 @node Article Treatment
7864 @section Article Treatment
7866 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7867 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7868 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7869 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7870 these articles easier.
7873 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7874 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7875 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7876 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7877 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7878 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7879 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7880 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7881 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7882 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7886 @node Article Highlighting
7887 @subsection Article Highlighting
7888 @cindex highlighting
7890 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7891 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7896 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7897 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7898 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7899 Do much highlighting of the current article
7900 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7901 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7904 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7905 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7906 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7907 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7908 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7909 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7910 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7911 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7912 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7913 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7914 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7915 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7918 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7919 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7920 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7922 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7925 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7927 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7928 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7929 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7931 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7932 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7933 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7935 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7936 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7937 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7938 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7939 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7940 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7942 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7943 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7944 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7946 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7947 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7948 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7950 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7951 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7952 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7953 that it's a citation.
7955 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7956 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7957 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7959 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7960 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7961 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7963 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7964 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7965 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7966 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7972 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7973 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7974 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7975 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7976 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7977 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7978 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7979 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7984 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7987 @node Article Fontisizing
7988 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7990 @cindex article emphasis
7992 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7993 @kindex W e (Summary)
7994 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7995 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7996 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7997 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7999 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8000 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8001 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8002 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8003 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8004 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8005 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8006 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8010 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8011 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8012 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8021 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8022 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8023 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8024 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8025 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8026 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8027 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8028 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8029 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8030 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8031 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8032 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8033 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8035 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8036 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8037 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8041 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8044 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8046 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8047 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8048 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8049 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8051 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8054 @node Article Hiding
8055 @subsection Article Hiding
8056 @cindex article hiding
8058 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8059 too much cruft in most articles.
8064 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8065 @findex gnus-article-hide
8066 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8067 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8068 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8071 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8072 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8073 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8077 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8078 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8079 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8080 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8083 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8084 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8085 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8089 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8090 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8091 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8092 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8093 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8094 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8095 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8096 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8100 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8101 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8102 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8103 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8108 @kindex W W p (Summary)
8109 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
8110 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8111 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
8112 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
8113 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
8114 articles that have signatures in them do:
8116 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
8118 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
8120 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
8121 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
8123 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8126 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8131 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8132 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8133 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8134 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8137 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8139 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8140 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8143 @cindex stripping advertisements
8144 @cindex advertisements
8145 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8146 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8147 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8148 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8149 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8150 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8151 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8152 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8153 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8154 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8157 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8158 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8159 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8163 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8164 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8165 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8166 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8167 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8168 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8169 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8170 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8171 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8172 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8173 following element to remove them:
8176 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8182 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8183 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8184 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8185 customizing the hiding:
8189 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8190 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8191 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8192 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8193 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8194 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8195 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8200 Starting point of the hidden text.
8202 Ending point of the hidden text.
8204 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8206 Number of lines of hidden text.
8209 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8210 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8211 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8212 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8213 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8218 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8219 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8221 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8222 following two variables:
8225 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8226 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8227 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8228 50), hide the cited text.
8230 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8231 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8232 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8237 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8238 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8239 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8240 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8241 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8242 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8246 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8247 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8248 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8250 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8251 citation customization.
8253 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8257 @node Article Washing
8258 @subsection Article Washing
8260 @cindex article washing
8262 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8263 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8265 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8266 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8269 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8270 articles by default.
8275 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8276 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8280 @kindex W l (Summary)
8281 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8282 Remove page breaks from the current article
8283 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8287 @kindex W r (Summary)
8288 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8289 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8290 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8291 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8292 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8293 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8295 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8296 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8297 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8298 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8301 @kindex W m (Summary)
8302 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8303 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8304 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8308 @kindex W t (Summary)
8310 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8311 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8312 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8315 @kindex W v (Summary)
8316 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8317 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8318 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8321 @kindex W m (Summary)
8322 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8323 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8324 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8327 @kindex W o (Summary)
8328 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8329 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8332 @kindex W d (Summary)
8333 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8334 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8336 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8338 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8339 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8340 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8341 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8344 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8345 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8346 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8347 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8350 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8351 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8352 @cindex Outlook Express
8353 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8354 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8355 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8358 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8360 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8361 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8362 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8363 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8364 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8365 (@code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8368 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8369 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8370 Repair a broken attribution line.
8371 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8374 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8375 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8376 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8377 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8380 @kindex W w (Summary)
8381 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8382 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8384 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8388 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8389 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8390 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8393 @kindex W C (Summary)
8394 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8395 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8396 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8399 @kindex W c (Summary)
8400 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8401 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8402 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8403 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8404 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8407 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8408 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8409 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8410 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8411 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8412 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8413 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8415 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8418 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8419 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8420 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8421 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8422 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8425 @kindex W u (Summary)
8426 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8427 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8428 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8429 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8430 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8433 @kindex W h (Summary)
8434 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8435 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8436 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8437 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8439 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8441 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8442 The default is to use the function specified by
8443 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8444 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8445 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8446 you can use include:
8453 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8457 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8460 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8463 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8468 @kindex W b (Summary)
8469 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8470 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8471 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8474 @kindex W B (Summary)
8475 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8476 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8477 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8480 @kindex W p (Summary)
8481 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8482 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8483 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8484 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8485 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8486 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8487 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8490 @kindex W s (Summary)
8491 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8492 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8493 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8496 @kindex W a (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8498 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8499 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8502 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8503 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8504 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8505 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8508 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8510 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8511 lines with a single empty line.
8512 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8515 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8516 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8517 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8518 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8521 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8522 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8523 Do all the three commands above
8524 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8527 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8529 Remove all blank lines
8530 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8533 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8535 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8536 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8539 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8541 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8542 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8546 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8549 @node Article Header
8550 @subsection Article Header
8552 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8557 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8559 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8562 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8563 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8564 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8565 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8568 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8569 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8570 Fold all the message headers
8571 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8575 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8576 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8577 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8582 @node Article Buttons
8583 @subsection Article Buttons
8586 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8587 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8588 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8589 button on these references.
8591 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8592 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8593 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8594 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8595 one that handles article heads:
8599 @item gnus-button-alist
8600 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8601 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8604 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8610 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8611 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8612 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8613 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8614 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8617 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8618 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8619 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8622 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8623 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8624 avoid false matches.
8627 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8630 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8631 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8635 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8638 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8641 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8642 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8643 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8644 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8645 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8648 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8651 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8653 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8654 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8655 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8656 default values of the variables above.
8658 @item gnus-article-button-face
8659 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8660 Face used on buttons.
8662 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8663 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8664 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8668 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8672 @subsection Article Date
8674 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8675 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8676 when the article was sent.
8681 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8683 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8684 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8687 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8688 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8690 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8691 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8694 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8695 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8696 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8699 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8700 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8701 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8702 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8705 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8706 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8707 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8708 @findex format-time-string
8709 Display the date using a user-defined format
8710 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8711 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8712 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8713 for a list of possible format specs.
8716 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8717 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8718 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8719 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8720 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8721 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8724 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8727 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8728 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8731 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8732 into wonderful absurdities.
8734 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8737 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8740 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8741 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8745 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8746 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8747 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8748 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8749 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8750 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8751 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8755 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8756 preferred format automatically.
8759 @node Article Display
8760 @subsection Article Display
8765 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8766 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8768 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8769 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8771 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8772 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8774 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8775 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8777 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8782 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8783 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8784 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8785 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8788 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8789 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8790 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8791 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8794 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8795 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8796 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8799 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8800 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8801 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8804 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8805 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8806 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8807 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8810 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8811 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8812 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8813 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8816 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8817 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8818 Remove all images from the article buffer
8819 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8825 @node Article Signature
8826 @subsection Article Signature
8828 @cindex article signature
8830 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8831 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8832 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8833 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8834 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8835 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8836 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8837 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8838 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8841 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8842 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8843 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8844 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8845 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8846 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8847 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8848 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8851 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8854 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8855 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8856 signature when displaying articles.
8860 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8863 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8866 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8867 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8869 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8870 in question is not a signature.
8873 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8874 listed above. Here's an example:
8877 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8878 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8881 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8882 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8883 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8884 signature after all.
8887 @node Article Miscellania
8888 @subsection Article Miscellania
8892 @kindex A t (Summary)
8893 @findex gnus-article-babel
8894 Translate the article from one language to another
8895 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8901 @section MIME Commands
8902 @cindex MIME decoding
8904 @cindex viewing attachments
8906 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8907 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8913 @kindex K v (Summary)
8914 View the @sc{mime} part.
8917 @kindex K o (Summary)
8918 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8921 @kindex K c (Summary)
8922 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8925 @kindex K e (Summary)
8926 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8929 @kindex K i (Summary)
8930 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8933 @kindex K | (Summary)
8934 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8937 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8942 @kindex K b (Summary)
8943 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8944 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8948 @kindex K m (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8950 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8951 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8952 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8953 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8956 @kindex X m (Summary)
8957 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8958 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8959 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8960 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8963 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8964 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8965 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8966 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8969 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8970 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8971 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8972 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8975 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8976 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8977 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8978 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8980 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8981 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8982 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8983 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8984 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8985 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8988 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8989 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8990 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8991 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8998 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8999 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9000 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9001 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9004 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9007 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9011 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9012 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9013 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9014 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9015 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9016 default is @code{nil}.
9018 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9019 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9020 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9021 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9022 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9023 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9024 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9026 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9027 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9028 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9029 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9030 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9031 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9032 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9033 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9035 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9036 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9037 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9038 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9039 displayed. This variable overrides
9040 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9041 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9044 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9045 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9046 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9048 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9049 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9050 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9051 value is @code{nil}.
9053 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9054 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9055 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9056 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9057 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9058 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9059 save all jpegs into some directory).
9061 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9064 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9065 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9067 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9068 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9069 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9070 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9071 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9074 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9075 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9076 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9078 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9079 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9080 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9081 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9083 Ready-made functions include@*
9084 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9085 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9086 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9087 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9088 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9089 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9090 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9091 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9092 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9093 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9094 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9095 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9097 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9098 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9100 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9101 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9102 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9105 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9106 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9107 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9108 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9112 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9121 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9122 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9123 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9124 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9125 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9126 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9127 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9129 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9130 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9131 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9132 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9134 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9135 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9136 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9137 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9138 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9139 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9140 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9141 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9143 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9144 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9145 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9146 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9147 quoted-printable header encoding.
9149 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9150 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9151 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9155 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9158 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9159 means encode all charsets),
9161 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9162 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9163 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9170 @cindex coding system aliases
9171 @cindex preferred charset
9173 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9175 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9176 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9179 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9180 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9183 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9184 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9186 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9189 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9192 This will almost do the right thing.
9194 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9198 (codepage-setup 1251)
9199 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9203 @node Article Commands
9204 @section Article Commands
9211 @kindex A P (Summary)
9212 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9213 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9214 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9215 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9216 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9217 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9222 @node Summary Sorting
9223 @section Summary Sorting
9224 @cindex summary sorting
9226 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9227 can't really see why you'd want that.
9232 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9233 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9234 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9237 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9238 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9239 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9242 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9243 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9244 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9247 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9248 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9249 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9252 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9253 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9254 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9257 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9258 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9259 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9262 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9264 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9267 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9268 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9269 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9272 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9273 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9274 Sort using the default sorting method
9275 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9278 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9279 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9280 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9281 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9282 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9286 @node Finding the Parent
9287 @section Finding the Parent
9288 @cindex parent articles
9289 @cindex referring articles
9294 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9295 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9296 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9297 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9298 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9299 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9300 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9301 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9302 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9304 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9305 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9306 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9307 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9308 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9312 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9313 @kindex A R (Summary)
9314 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9315 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9318 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9319 @kindex A T (Summary)
9320 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9321 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9322 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9323 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9324 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9325 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9326 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9328 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9329 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9330 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9331 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9332 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9333 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9336 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9337 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9339 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9340 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9341 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9342 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9343 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9344 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9345 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9348 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9349 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9350 by giving this command a prefix.
9352 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9353 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9354 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9355 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9356 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9357 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9360 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9361 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9362 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9365 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9366 then ask Google if that fails:
9369 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9371 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9374 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9375 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9376 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9377 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9378 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9379 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9380 support this at all.
9383 @node Alternative Approaches
9384 @section Alternative Approaches
9386 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9387 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9390 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9391 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9396 @subsection Pick and Read
9397 @cindex pick and read
9399 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9400 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9401 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9402 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9404 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9405 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9406 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9407 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9408 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9409 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9411 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9416 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9417 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9418 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9419 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9420 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9421 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9422 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9423 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9426 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9427 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9428 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9429 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9433 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9434 Unpick the thread or article
9435 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9436 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9437 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9438 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9439 the thread or article at that line.
9443 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9444 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9445 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9446 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9447 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9448 will still be visible when you are reading.
9452 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9453 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9454 which is mapped to the same function
9455 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9457 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9460 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9463 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9464 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9466 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9467 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9468 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9470 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9471 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9472 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9473 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9474 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9475 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9476 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9480 @subsection Binary Groups
9481 @cindex binary groups
9483 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9484 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9485 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9486 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9487 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9488 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9489 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9492 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9493 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9494 command, when you have turned on this mode
9495 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9497 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9498 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9502 @section Tree Display
9505 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9506 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9507 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9508 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9511 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9514 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9515 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9516 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9518 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9519 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9520 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9521 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9522 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9524 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9525 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9526 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9527 default is @code{modeline}.
9529 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9530 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9531 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9532 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9533 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9534 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9535 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9541 The name of the poster.
9543 The @code{From} header.
9545 The number of the article.
9547 The opening bracket.
9549 The closing bracket.
9554 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9556 Variables related to the display are:
9559 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9560 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9561 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9562 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9563 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9564 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9566 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9567 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9568 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9569 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9573 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9574 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9575 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9576 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9577 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9578 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9579 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9580 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9581 other windows displayed next to it.
9583 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9587 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9588 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9591 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9592 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9593 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9594 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9595 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9596 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9597 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9601 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9604 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9614 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9618 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9619 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9621 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9623 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9628 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9629 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9630 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9633 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9634 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9635 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9636 (gnus-add-configuration
9640 (summary 0.75 point)
9645 @xref{Window Layout}.
9648 @node Mail Group Commands
9649 @section Mail Group Commands
9650 @cindex mail group commands
9652 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9653 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9655 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9656 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9661 @kindex B e (Summary)
9662 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9663 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9664 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9665 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9666 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9669 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9670 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9671 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9672 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9673 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9674 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9677 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9678 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9679 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9680 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9681 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9682 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9685 @kindex B m (Summary)
9687 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9688 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9689 Move the article from one mail group to another
9690 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9691 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9694 @kindex B c (Summary)
9696 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9697 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9698 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9699 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9700 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9703 @kindex B B (Summary)
9704 @cindex crosspost mail
9705 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9706 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9707 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9708 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9709 be properly updated.
9712 @kindex B i (Summary)
9713 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9714 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9715 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9716 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9719 @kindex B I (Summary)
9720 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9721 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9722 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9723 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9726 @kindex B r (Summary)
9727 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9728 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9729 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9730 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9731 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9732 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9733 (which is the default).
9737 @kindex B w (Summary)
9739 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9740 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9741 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9742 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9743 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9744 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9745 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9748 @kindex B q (Summary)
9749 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9750 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9751 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9752 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9755 @kindex B t (Summary)
9756 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9757 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9758 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9761 @kindex B p (Summary)
9762 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9763 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9764 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9765 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9766 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9767 article from your news server (or rather, from
9768 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9769 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9770 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9771 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9772 just not have arrived yet.
9775 @kindex K E (Summary)
9776 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9777 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9778 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9779 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9780 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9784 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9785 @cindex moving articles
9786 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9787 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9788 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9789 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9790 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9791 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9792 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9795 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9796 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9797 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9798 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9802 @node Various Summary Stuff
9803 @section Various Summary Stuff
9806 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9807 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9808 * Summary Generation Commands::
9809 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9813 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9814 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9815 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9817 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9818 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9819 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9820 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9821 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9822 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9825 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9826 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9827 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9828 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9829 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9831 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9832 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9833 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9836 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9837 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9838 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9839 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9840 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9841 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9842 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9843 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9844 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9845 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9847 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9848 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9849 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9850 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9851 list of articles to be selected.
9853 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9854 the list in one particular group:
9857 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9858 (if (string= group "some.group")
9859 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9863 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9864 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9865 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9866 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9867 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9868 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9869 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9870 buffers. For example:
9873 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9874 '(message-use-followup-to
9875 (gnus-visible-headers .
9876 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9882 @node Summary Group Information
9883 @subsection Summary Group Information
9888 @kindex H f (Summary)
9889 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9890 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9891 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9892 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9893 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9894 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9895 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9896 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9897 be used for fetching the file.
9900 @kindex H d (Summary)
9901 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9902 Give a brief description of the current group
9903 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9904 rereading the description from the server.
9907 @kindex H h (Summary)
9908 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9909 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9910 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9913 @kindex H i (Summary)
9914 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9915 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9919 @node Searching for Articles
9920 @subsection Searching for Articles
9925 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9927 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9928 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9931 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9932 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9933 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9934 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9938 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9939 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9940 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9941 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9942 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9943 search backward instead.
9945 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9946 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9949 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9950 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9951 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9952 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9955 @node Summary Generation Commands
9956 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9961 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9962 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9963 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9966 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9967 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9968 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9969 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9972 @kindex Y d (Summary)
9973 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
9974 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9975 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
9980 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9981 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9987 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9988 @kindex A D (Summary)
9989 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9990 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9991 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9992 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9993 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9994 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9995 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9996 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10000 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10001 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10002 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10003 several documents into one biiig group
10004 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10005 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10006 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10007 command understands the process/prefix convention
10008 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10011 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10012 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10013 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10014 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10015 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10016 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10019 @kindex = (Summary)
10020 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10021 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10022 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10025 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10026 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10027 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10028 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10031 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10032 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10033 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10034 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10039 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10040 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10041 @cindex summary exit
10042 @cindex exiting groups
10044 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10045 group and return you to the group buffer.
10051 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10052 @kindex q (Summary)
10053 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10054 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10055 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10056 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10057 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10058 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10059 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10060 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10061 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10062 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10063 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10067 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10068 @kindex Q (Summary)
10069 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10070 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10071 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10075 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10076 @kindex c (Summary)
10077 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10078 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10079 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10080 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10083 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10084 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10085 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10086 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10089 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10090 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10091 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10092 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10095 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10096 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10097 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10098 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10099 all articles, both read and unread.
10103 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10104 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10105 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10106 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10107 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10108 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10109 articles, both read and unread.
10112 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10113 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10114 Exit the group and go to the next group
10115 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10118 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10119 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10120 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10121 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10124 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10125 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10126 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10127 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10128 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10129 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10132 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10133 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10134 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10135 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10137 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10138 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10139 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10140 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10141 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10142 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10143 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10144 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10145 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10146 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10147 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10148 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10150 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10152 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10153 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10154 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10155 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10156 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10157 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10158 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10159 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10160 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10163 @node Crosspost Handling
10164 @section Crosspost Handling
10168 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10169 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10170 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10171 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10172 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10173 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10176 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10177 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10178 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10179 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10180 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10182 @cindex cross-posting
10185 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10186 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10187 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10188 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10189 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10190 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10191 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10192 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10193 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10194 the cross reference mechanism.
10196 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10197 @cindex overview.fmt
10198 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10199 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10200 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10201 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10202 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10203 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10206 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10207 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10208 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10213 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10216 @node Duplicate Suppression
10217 @section Duplicate Suppression
10219 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10220 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10221 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10222 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10227 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10228 is evil and not very common.
10231 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10232 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10235 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10236 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10239 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10242 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10243 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10245 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10246 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10247 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10248 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10249 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10250 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10251 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10254 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10255 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10256 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10257 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10258 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10259 saw the article in.
10262 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10263 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10264 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10266 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10267 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10268 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10269 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10270 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10271 session are suppressed.
10273 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10274 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10275 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10276 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10278 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10279 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10280 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10281 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10284 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10285 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10286 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10287 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10288 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10289 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10290 to you to figure out, I think.
10295 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10296 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10297 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10301 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10302 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10303 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10304 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10307 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10308 or newer is recommended.
10312 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10313 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10316 @item mm-verify-option
10317 @vindex mm-verify-option
10318 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10319 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10320 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10322 @item mm-decrypt-option
10323 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10324 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10325 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10326 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10329 @vindex mml1991-use
10330 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10331 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10332 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10335 @vindex mml2015-use
10336 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10337 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10338 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10343 @section Mailing List
10345 @kindex A M (summary)
10346 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10347 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10348 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10349 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10350 summary buffer, or say:
10353 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10356 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10361 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10362 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10363 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10366 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10367 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10368 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10371 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10372 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10373 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10377 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10378 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10379 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10382 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10383 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10384 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10387 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10388 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10389 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10393 @node Article Buffer
10394 @chapter Article Buffer
10395 @cindex article buffer
10397 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10398 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10399 tell gnus otherwise.
10402 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10403 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10404 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10405 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10406 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10410 @node Hiding Headers
10411 @section Hiding Headers
10412 @cindex hiding headers
10413 @cindex deleting headers
10415 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10416 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10418 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10419 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10420 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10421 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10422 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10423 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10424 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10425 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10426 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10428 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10432 @item gnus-visible-headers
10433 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10434 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10435 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10436 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10438 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10439 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10442 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10445 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10448 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10449 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10450 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10451 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10452 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10453 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10455 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10456 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10459 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10462 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10465 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10466 variable will have no effect.
10470 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10471 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10472 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10473 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10474 the headers are to be displayed.
10476 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10477 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10480 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10483 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10484 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10486 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10487 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10488 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10489 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10490 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10491 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10492 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10495 These conditions are:
10498 Remove all empty headers.
10500 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10501 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10503 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10504 @code{From} header.
10506 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10509 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10510 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10512 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10515 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10517 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10520 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10523 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10524 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10527 This is also the default value for this variable.
10531 @section Using MIME
10534 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10535 while people stand around yawning.
10537 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10538 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10540 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10541 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10542 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10544 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10545 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10546 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10547 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10548 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10549 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10550 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10551 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10552 not existed yet, sorry).
10554 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10555 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10556 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10557 These can't be avoided.
10559 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10560 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10561 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10562 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10563 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10564 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10565 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10566 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10567 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10570 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10572 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10573 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10574 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10575 buffer when there are nobody else.
10577 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10580 @node Customizing Articles
10581 @section Customizing Articles
10582 @cindex article customization
10584 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10585 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10586 called automatically when you select the articles.
10588 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10589 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10590 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10591 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10593 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10594 for sensible values.
10598 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10601 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10604 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10607 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10610 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10614 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10615 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10616 regexps in the list.
10619 A list where the first element is not a string:
10621 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10622 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10623 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10627 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10631 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10636 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10637 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10638 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10639 considered to contain just a single part.
10641 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10642 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10643 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10644 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10645 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10646 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10647 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10649 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10650 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10651 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10652 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10655 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10656 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10658 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10660 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10661 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10662 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10663 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10664 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10665 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10666 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10667 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10668 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10669 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10670 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10671 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10673 @xref{Article Washing}.
10675 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10676 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10677 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10678 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10679 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10680 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10681 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10683 @xref{Article Date}.
10685 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10686 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10687 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10691 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10693 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10695 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10696 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10697 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10701 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10705 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10706 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10707 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10708 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10709 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10710 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10711 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10712 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10714 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10716 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10717 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10718 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10720 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10722 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10723 @item gnus-treat-translate
10724 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10726 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10727 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10728 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10729 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10731 @xref{Article Header}.
10736 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10737 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10738 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10739 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10740 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10744 @node Article Keymap
10745 @section Article Keymap
10747 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10748 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10749 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10750 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10753 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10758 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10759 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10760 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10763 @kindex DEL (Article)
10764 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10765 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10768 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10769 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10770 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10771 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10772 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10775 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10776 @findex gnus-article-mail
10777 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10778 given a prefix, include the mail.
10781 @kindex s (Article)
10782 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10783 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10784 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10787 @kindex ? (Article)
10788 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10789 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10790 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10793 @kindex TAB (Article)
10794 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10795 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10796 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10799 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10800 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10801 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10804 @kindex R (Article)
10805 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10806 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10807 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10808 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10812 @kindex F (Article)
10813 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10814 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10815 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10816 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10824 @section Misc Article
10828 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10829 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10830 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10831 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10834 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10835 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10837 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10838 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10840 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10841 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10842 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10843 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10844 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10845 the contents of the article buffer.
10847 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10848 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10849 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10851 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10852 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10853 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10854 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10856 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10857 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10858 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10859 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10860 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10866 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10867 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10868 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10873 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10876 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10879 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10880 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10881 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10884 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10887 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10890 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10895 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10899 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10901 @item gnus-break-pages
10902 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10903 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10904 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10905 paging will not be done.
10907 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10908 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10909 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10914 @node Composing Messages
10915 @chapter Composing Messages
10916 @cindex composing messages
10919 @cindex sending mail
10924 @cindex using s/mime
10925 @cindex using smime
10927 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10928 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10929 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10930 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10931 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10932 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10935 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10936 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10937 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10938 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10939 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10940 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10941 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10942 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10945 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10946 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10952 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10955 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10956 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10957 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10958 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10959 @code{nil} include all headers.
10961 @item gnus-add-to-list
10962 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10963 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10964 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10966 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10967 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10968 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
10969 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
10970 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
10971 confirmation is should be asked for.
10973 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10974 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10976 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10977 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10978 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
10979 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
10980 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
10985 @node Posting Server
10986 @section Posting Server
10988 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10989 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10991 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10993 It can be quite complicated.
10995 @vindex gnus-post-method
10996 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10997 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10998 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10999 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11000 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11001 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11002 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11003 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11004 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11007 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11010 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11011 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11012 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11013 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11015 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11016 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11018 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11019 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11022 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11023 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11025 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11026 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11027 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11028 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11029 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11030 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11031 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11032 package correctly. An example:
11035 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11036 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11037 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11038 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11039 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11042 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11043 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11044 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11046 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11047 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11048 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11050 @node Mail and Post
11051 @section Mail and Post
11053 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11057 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11058 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11059 @cindex mailing lists
11061 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11062 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11063 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11064 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11065 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11066 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11067 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11068 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11069 still a pain, though.
11073 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11074 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11075 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11078 @findex ispell-message
11080 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11083 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11084 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11087 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11091 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11092 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11094 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11097 Modify to suit your needs.
11100 @node Archived Messages
11101 @section Archived Messages
11102 @cindex archived messages
11103 @cindex sent messages
11105 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11106 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11107 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11108 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11111 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11112 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11115 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11116 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11117 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11120 (nnfolder "archive"
11121 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11122 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11123 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11124 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11127 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11128 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11129 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11130 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11133 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11134 '(nnfolder "archive"
11135 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11136 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11137 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11140 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11142 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11143 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11144 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11146 This variable can be used to do the following:
11151 Messages will be saved in that group.
11153 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11154 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11155 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11156 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11157 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11158 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11159 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11160 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11164 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11166 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11167 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11170 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11175 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11177 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11180 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11182 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11185 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11187 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11188 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11189 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11190 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11193 More complex stuff:
11195 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11196 '((if (message-news-p)
11201 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11202 messages in one file per month:
11205 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11206 '((if (message-news-p)
11208 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11211 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11212 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11214 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11215 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11216 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11217 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11218 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11219 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11220 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11221 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11222 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11223 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11225 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11226 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11227 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11228 this will disable archiving.
11231 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11232 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11233 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11234 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11235 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11238 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11239 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11240 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11243 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11244 but the latter is the preferred method.
11246 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11247 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11248 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11250 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11251 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11252 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11253 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11254 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11255 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11256 changed in the future.
11261 @node Posting Styles
11262 @section Posting Styles
11263 @cindex posting styles
11266 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11268 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11269 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11270 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11273 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11274 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11275 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11276 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11277 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11282 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11283 (organization "What me?"))
11285 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11286 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11287 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11290 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11291 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11292 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11293 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11294 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11295 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11296 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11297 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11299 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11300 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11301 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11302 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11303 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11304 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11305 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11306 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11307 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11308 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11309 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11312 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11313 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11314 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11315 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11316 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11317 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11318 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11319 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11320 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11321 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11324 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11325 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11326 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11327 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11328 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11329 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11330 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11331 references chars lines xref extra.
11333 @vindex message-reply-headers
11335 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11336 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11337 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11339 @findex message-mail-p
11340 @findex message-news-p
11342 So here's a new example:
11345 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11347 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11349 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11350 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11352 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11353 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11354 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11355 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11356 (signature my-news-signature))
11357 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11358 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11359 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11360 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11361 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11362 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11363 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11364 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11365 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11366 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11368 (From (save-excursion
11369 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11370 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11372 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11375 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11376 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11377 if you fill many roles.
11379 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11380 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11381 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11382 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11383 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11384 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11385 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11386 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11391 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11393 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11395 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11396 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11399 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11402 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11403 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11410 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11411 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11412 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11413 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11414 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11416 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11417 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11418 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11419 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11420 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11424 @vindex nndraft-directory
11425 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11426 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11427 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11428 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11429 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11430 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11432 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11433 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11436 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11437 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11438 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11439 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11440 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11441 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11442 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11443 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11444 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11445 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11446 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11447 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11448 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11449 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11451 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11452 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11453 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11455 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11456 @kindex D e (Draft)
11457 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11458 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11459 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11461 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11464 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11465 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11466 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11467 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11468 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11469 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11470 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11473 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11474 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11475 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11478 @node Rejected Articles
11479 @section Rejected Articles
11480 @cindex rejected articles
11482 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11483 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11484 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11485 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11487 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11488 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11489 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11490 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11491 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11493 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11494 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11495 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11497 @node Signing and encrypting
11498 @section Signing and encrypting
11500 @cindex using s/mime
11501 @cindex using smime
11503 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11504 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11505 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11506 (@pxref{Security}).
11508 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11509 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11510 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11511 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11512 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11513 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11514 automatically encrypted messages.
11516 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11517 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11518 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11523 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11524 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11526 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11529 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11530 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11532 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11535 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11536 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11538 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11541 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11542 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11544 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11547 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11548 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11550 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11553 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11554 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11556 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11559 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11560 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11561 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11565 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11567 @node Select Methods
11568 @chapter Select Methods
11569 @cindex foreign groups
11570 @cindex select methods
11572 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11573 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11574 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11575 personal mail group.
11577 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11578 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11579 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11580 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11581 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11582 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11584 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11585 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11587 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11590 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11591 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11592 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11593 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11594 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11596 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11599 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11600 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11601 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11602 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11603 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11604 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11605 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11606 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11610 @node Server Buffer
11611 @section Server Buffer
11613 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11614 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11615 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11616 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11617 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11618 back end represents a virtual server.
11620 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11621 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11622 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11623 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11625 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11626 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11627 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11628 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11629 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11630 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11631 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11633 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11634 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11637 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11638 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11639 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11640 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11641 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11642 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11643 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11646 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11647 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11650 @node Server Buffer Format
11651 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11652 @cindex server buffer format
11654 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11655 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11656 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11657 variable, with some simple extensions:
11662 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11665 The name of this server.
11668 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11671 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11674 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11675 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11676 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11677 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11687 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11690 @node Server Commands
11691 @subsection Server Commands
11692 @cindex server commands
11698 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11699 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11703 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11704 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11707 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11708 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11709 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11713 @findex gnus-server-exit
11714 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11718 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11719 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11723 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11724 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11728 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11729 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11733 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11734 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11738 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11739 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11740 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11745 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11746 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11747 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11748 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11753 @node Example Methods
11754 @subsection Example Methods
11756 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11759 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11762 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11768 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11769 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11772 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11773 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11775 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11776 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11780 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11783 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11784 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11786 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11787 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11788 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11792 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11795 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11798 Here's the method for a public spool:
11802 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11803 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11809 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11810 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11811 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11812 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11813 should probably look something like this:
11817 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11818 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11819 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11820 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11823 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11824 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11825 configuration to the example above:
11828 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11831 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11833 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11834 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11835 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11839 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11840 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11841 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11842 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11845 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11846 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11847 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11848 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11851 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11852 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11854 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11855 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11857 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11858 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11859 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11861 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11863 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11864 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11865 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11866 will contain the following:
11876 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11877 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11878 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11881 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11882 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11883 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11886 @node Server Variables
11887 @subsection Server Variables
11889 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11890 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11891 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11892 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11893 won't change the "derived" variables.
11895 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11896 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11897 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11898 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11899 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11900 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11901 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11902 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11903 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11907 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11908 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11909 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11913 @node Servers and Methods
11914 @subsection Servers and Methods
11916 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11917 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11918 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11919 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11923 @node Unavailable Servers
11924 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11926 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11927 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11928 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11929 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11930 actually the case or not.
11932 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11933 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11934 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11935 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11936 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11937 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11938 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11939 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11941 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11942 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11944 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11945 with the following commands:
11951 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11952 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11953 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11957 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11958 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11959 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11963 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11964 Mark the current server as unreachable
11965 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11968 @kindex M-o (Server)
11969 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11970 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11971 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11974 @kindex M-c (Server)
11975 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11976 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11977 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11981 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11982 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11983 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11987 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11988 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11994 @section Getting News
11995 @cindex reading news
11996 @cindex news back ends
11998 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11999 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12000 or it can read from a local spool.
12003 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12004 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12012 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12013 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12014 server as the, uhm, address.
12016 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12017 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12018 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12019 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12021 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12022 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12023 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12025 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12030 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12031 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12032 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12034 @cindex authentification
12035 @cindex nntp authentification
12036 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12037 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12038 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12039 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12040 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12041 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12042 present in this hook.
12044 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12045 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12046 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12047 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12048 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12049 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12050 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12051 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12052 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12053 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12054 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12055 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12059 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12062 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12064 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12065 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12066 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12067 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12068 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12069 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12070 @samp{force} is explained below.
12074 Here's an example file:
12077 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12078 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12081 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12082 have to be first, for instance.
12084 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12085 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12086 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12087 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12088 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12089 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12090 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12092 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12093 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12099 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12100 previously mentioned.
12102 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12104 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12105 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12106 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12107 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12108 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12111 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12112 '(("innd" (ding))))
12115 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12117 The default value is
12120 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12121 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12122 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12125 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12126 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12128 @item nntp-maximum-request
12129 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12130 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12131 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12132 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12133 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12134 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12135 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12137 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12138 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12139 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12140 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12141 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12142 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12143 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12144 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12145 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12146 no timeouts are done.
12148 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12149 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12150 @c @cindex PPP connections
12151 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12152 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12153 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12154 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12155 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12156 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12157 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12158 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12159 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12160 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12162 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12163 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12164 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12165 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12166 @c described above.
12168 @item nntp-server-hook
12169 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12170 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12173 @item nntp-buggy-select
12174 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12175 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12177 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12178 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12179 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12180 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12183 @item nntp-xover-commands
12184 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12187 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12188 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12192 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12193 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12194 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12195 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12196 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12197 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12198 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12199 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12200 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12201 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12202 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12204 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12205 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12206 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12208 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12209 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12210 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12211 server closes connection.
12213 @item nntp-record-commands
12214 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12215 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12216 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12217 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12218 that doesn't seem to work.
12220 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12221 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12222 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12223 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12224 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12225 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12226 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12227 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12229 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12230 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12231 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12232 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12233 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12234 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12235 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12238 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12241 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12242 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12244 @item nntp-list-options
12245 @vindex nntp-list-options
12246 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12247 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12248 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12249 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12250 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12254 (setq gnus-select-method
12255 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12256 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12259 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12260 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12261 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12262 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12263 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12264 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12265 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12268 (setq gnus-select-method
12269 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12270 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12273 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12274 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12275 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12276 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12277 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12278 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12279 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12282 (setq gnus-select-method
12283 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12284 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12289 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12290 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12291 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12295 @node Direct Functions
12296 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12297 @cindex direct connection functions
12299 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12300 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12301 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12302 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12305 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12306 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12307 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12310 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12311 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12312 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12313 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12314 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12315 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12316 define a server as follows:
12319 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12321 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12322 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12324 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12325 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12326 (nntp-port-number 563)
12327 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12330 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12331 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12332 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12333 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12334 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12335 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12336 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12337 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12341 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12342 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12343 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12346 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12347 session, which is not a good idea.
12351 @node Indirect Functions
12352 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12353 @cindex indirect connection functions
12355 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12356 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12357 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12358 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12359 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12360 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12363 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12364 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12365 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12366 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12367 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12369 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12372 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12373 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12374 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12375 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12377 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12378 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12379 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12380 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12381 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12382 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12383 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12384 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12387 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12388 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12389 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12390 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12392 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12395 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12396 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12397 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12400 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12401 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12402 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12403 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12405 @item nntp-via-user-password
12406 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12407 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12409 @item nntp-via-envuser
12410 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12411 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12412 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12413 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12415 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12416 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12417 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12418 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12425 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12430 @item nntp-via-user-name
12431 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12432 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12434 @item nntp-via-address
12435 @vindex nntp-via-address
12436 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12441 @node Common Variables
12442 @subsubsection Common Variables
12444 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12445 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12450 @item nntp-pre-command
12451 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12452 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12453 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12454 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12455 wrapper for instance.
12458 @vindex nntp-address
12459 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12461 @item nntp-port-number
12462 @vindex nntp-port-number
12463 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12464 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12465 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12466 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12468 @item nntp-end-of-line
12469 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12470 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12471 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12472 using a non native connection function.
12474 @item nntp-telnet-command
12475 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12476 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12477 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12478 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12480 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12481 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12482 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12489 @subsection News Spool
12493 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12494 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12495 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12498 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12499 anything else) as the address.
12501 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12502 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12503 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12504 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12508 @item nnspool-inews-program
12509 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12510 Program used to post an article.
12512 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12513 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12514 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12516 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12517 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12518 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12519 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12521 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12522 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12523 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12524 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12526 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12527 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12528 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12530 @item nnspool-active-file
12531 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12532 The name of the active file.
12534 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12535 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12536 The name of the group descriptions file.
12538 @item nnspool-history-file
12539 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12540 The name of the news history file.
12542 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12543 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12544 The name of the active date file.
12546 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12547 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12548 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12551 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12552 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12554 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12555 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12556 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12562 @section Getting Mail
12563 @cindex reading mail
12566 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12570 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12571 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12572 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12573 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12574 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12575 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12576 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12577 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12578 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12579 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12580 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12581 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12582 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12586 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12587 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12589 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12590 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12591 of a culture shock.
12593 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12594 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12596 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12597 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12598 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12599 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12601 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12603 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12604 deleted? How awful!
12606 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12607 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12608 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12609 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12612 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12613 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12614 they want to treat a message.
12616 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12617 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12618 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12619 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12620 archived somewhere else.
12622 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12623 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12624 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12625 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12626 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12628 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12629 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12630 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12632 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12633 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12636 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12637 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12638 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12639 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12640 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12642 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12643 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12644 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12645 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12646 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12647 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12651 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12652 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12654 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12655 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12656 and things will happen automatically.
12658 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12659 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12662 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12665 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12666 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12667 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12668 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12669 like any other group.
12671 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12674 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12675 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12676 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12680 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12681 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12682 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12685 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12686 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12687 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12690 @node Splitting Mail
12691 @subsection Splitting Mail
12692 @cindex splitting mail
12693 @cindex mail splitting
12695 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12696 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12697 to be split into groups.
12700 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12701 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12702 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12703 ("mail.other" "")))
12706 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12707 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12708 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12709 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12710 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12711 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12712 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12715 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12718 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12719 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12720 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12721 mail belongs in that group.
12723 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12724 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12725 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12726 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12727 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12728 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12730 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12731 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12732 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12733 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12734 thinks should carry this mail message.
12736 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12737 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12738 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12739 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12741 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12742 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12743 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12744 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12745 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12747 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12750 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12751 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12752 links. If that's the case for you, set
12753 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12754 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12756 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12757 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12758 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12759 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12760 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12761 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12764 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12765 Header lines longer than the value of
12766 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12769 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12770 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12771 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12772 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12773 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12774 can be turned off completely by binding
12775 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12776 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12778 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12779 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12780 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12781 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12782 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12783 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12784 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12787 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12788 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12789 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12790 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12791 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12792 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12793 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12794 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12795 month's rent money.
12799 @subsection Mail Sources
12801 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12802 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12806 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12807 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12808 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12812 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12813 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12815 @cindex mail server
12818 @cindex mail source
12820 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12821 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12826 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12829 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12830 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12831 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12834 The following mail source types are available:
12838 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12844 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12845 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12846 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12849 An example file mail source:
12852 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12855 Or using the default file name:
12861 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12862 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12863 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12866 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12870 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12873 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12877 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12880 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12882 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12885 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12889 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12890 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12891 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12892 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12893 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12894 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12895 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12896 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12897 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12898 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12900 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12901 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12902 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12903 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12909 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12913 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12917 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12918 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12919 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12920 predicate are considered.
12924 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12928 An example directory mail source:
12931 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12936 Get mail from a POP server.
12942 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12943 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12946 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12947 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12948 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12949 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12950 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12953 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12957 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12961 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12962 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12965 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12968 The valid format specifier characters are:
12972 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12973 included in this string.
12976 The name of the server.
12979 The port number of the server.
12982 The user name to use.
12985 The password to use.
12988 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12989 corresponding keywords.
12992 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12993 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12996 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12997 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13000 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13001 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13004 @item :authentication
13005 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13006 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13010 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13011 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13012 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13013 programs and libraries:
13017 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13018 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13019 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13021 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13022 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13027 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13028 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13032 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13033 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13035 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13036 default user name, and default fetcher:
13042 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13045 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13046 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13049 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13052 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13056 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13057 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13058 contains exactly one mail.
13064 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13065 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13068 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13069 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13071 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13072 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13073 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13076 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13077 from locking problems).
13081 Two example maildir mail sources:
13084 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13085 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13089 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13094 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13095 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13096 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13097 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13100 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13101 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13107 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13108 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13111 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13112 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13115 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13119 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13123 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13124 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13125 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13126 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13128 @item :authentication
13129 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13130 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13131 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13132 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13135 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13136 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
13137 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13143 The valid format specifier characters are:
13147 The name of the server.
13150 User name from `imap-default-user'.
13153 The port number of the server.
13156 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13157 corresponding keywords.
13160 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13161 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13164 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13165 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13166 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13167 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13168 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13169 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13172 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13173 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13174 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13175 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13178 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13179 after finishing the fetch.
13183 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13186 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13188 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13192 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13193 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13194 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13196 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13197 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13199 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13205 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13206 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13209 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13213 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13217 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13218 folder after finishing the fetch.
13222 An example webmail source:
13225 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13227 :password "secret")
13232 @item Common Keywords
13233 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13239 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13240 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13244 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13249 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13250 useful when you use local mail and news.
13255 @subsubsection Function Interface
13257 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13258 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13259 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13260 consider the following mail-source setting:
13263 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13264 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13267 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13268 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13269 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13270 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13271 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13273 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13276 @node Mail Source Customization
13277 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13279 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13280 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13284 @item mail-source-crash-box
13285 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13286 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13287 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13289 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13290 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13291 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13293 @item mail-source-directory
13294 @vindex mail-source-directory
13295 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13296 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13297 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13300 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13301 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13302 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13303 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13304 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13305 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13307 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13308 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13309 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13311 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13312 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13313 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13314 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13319 @node Fetching Mail
13320 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13322 @vindex mail-sources
13323 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13324 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13325 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13326 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13328 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13329 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13332 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13333 mail server, you'd say something like:
13338 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13339 :password "secret")))
13342 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13346 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13347 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13350 :password "secret")))
13354 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13355 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13356 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13357 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13358 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13359 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13363 @node Mail Back End Variables
13364 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13366 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13370 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13371 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13372 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13373 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13375 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13376 @item nnmail-split-hook
13377 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13378 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13379 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13380 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13381 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13382 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13383 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13384 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13385 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13388 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13389 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13390 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13391 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13392 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13393 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13394 starting to handle the new mail) and
13395 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13396 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13397 default file modes the new mail files get:
13400 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13401 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13403 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13404 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13407 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13408 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13409 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13410 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13411 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13412 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13413 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13415 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13416 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13417 @findex delete-file
13418 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13420 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13421 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13422 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13423 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13424 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13426 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13427 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13428 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13429 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13430 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13432 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13433 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13434 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13439 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13440 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13441 @cindex mail splitting
13442 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13444 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13445 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13446 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13447 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13448 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13449 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13451 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13454 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13455 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13456 ;; from real errors.
13457 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13459 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13460 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13461 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13462 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13463 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13464 ;; Other mailing lists...
13465 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13466 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13467 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13468 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13469 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13470 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13471 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13472 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13474 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13475 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13479 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13480 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13481 the five possible split syntaxes:
13486 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13487 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13491 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13492 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13493 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13494 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13495 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13496 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13497 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13498 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13501 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13502 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13503 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13504 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13507 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13508 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13511 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13512 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13515 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13516 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13517 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13518 function should return a @var{split}.
13521 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13522 body of the messages:
13525 (defun split-on-body ()
13527 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13528 (goto-char (point-min))
13529 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13533 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13534 when the @code{:} function is run.
13537 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13538 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13539 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13543 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13547 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13548 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13549 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13550 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13551 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13553 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13554 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13555 are expanded as specified by the variable
13556 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13557 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13560 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13561 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13562 when all this splitting is performed.
13564 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13565 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13566 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13569 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13572 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13573 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13575 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13576 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13577 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13578 groupings 1 through 9.
13580 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13581 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13582 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13583 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13584 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13585 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13586 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13587 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13588 it once per thread.
13590 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13591 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13592 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13595 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13596 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13598 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13599 ;; other splits go here
13603 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13604 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13605 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13606 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13607 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13608 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13609 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13610 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13611 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13612 unless the group name matches the regexp
13613 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13614 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13615 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13616 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13617 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13618 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13619 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13620 messages goes into the new group.
13622 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13623 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13624 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13625 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13626 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13630 @node Group Mail Splitting
13631 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13632 @cindex mail splitting
13633 @cindex group mail splitting
13635 @findex gnus-group-split
13636 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13637 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13638 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13639 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13640 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13641 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13642 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13643 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13645 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13646 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13647 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13648 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13650 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13651 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13652 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13653 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13654 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13655 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13656 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13658 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13659 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13660 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13661 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13662 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13663 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13664 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13666 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13667 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13668 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13669 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13670 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13671 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13672 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13673 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13674 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13675 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13676 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13677 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13678 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13680 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13685 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13686 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13688 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13689 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13690 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13691 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13693 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13696 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13697 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13698 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13701 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13702 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13703 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13707 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13708 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13709 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13713 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13716 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13717 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13718 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13719 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13720 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13721 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13722 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13723 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13724 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13726 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13727 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13728 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13729 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13730 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13731 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13732 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13733 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13734 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13736 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13737 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13738 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13739 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13740 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13741 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13744 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13747 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13748 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13749 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13750 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13751 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13754 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13755 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13756 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13757 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13759 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13760 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13761 @cindex incorporating old mail
13762 @cindex import old mail
13764 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13765 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13766 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13769 Doing so can be quite easy.
13771 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13772 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13773 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13774 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13775 your @code{nnml} groups.
13781 Go to the group buffer.
13784 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13785 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13788 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13791 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13792 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13795 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13796 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13799 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13800 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13801 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13802 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13803 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13805 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13806 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13807 using the new mail back end.
13810 @node Expiring Mail
13811 @subsection Expiring Mail
13812 @cindex article expiry
13814 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13815 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13816 different approach to mail reading.
13818 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13819 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13820 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13821 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13822 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13823 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13826 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13827 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13828 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13829 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13830 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13831 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13832 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13833 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13834 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13836 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13837 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13838 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13839 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13840 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13841 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13842 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13845 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13846 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13847 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13848 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13849 into its own group.)
13851 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13852 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13853 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13854 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13855 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13856 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13857 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13858 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13861 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13862 Groups that match the regular expression
13863 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13864 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13865 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13867 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13868 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13869 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13870 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13871 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13873 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13875 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13876 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13877 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13880 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13881 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13882 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13883 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13884 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13886 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13887 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13890 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13891 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13894 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13895 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13897 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13898 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13899 don't really mix very well.
13901 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13902 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13903 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13904 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13907 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13908 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13909 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13910 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13913 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13915 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13917 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13919 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13921 ((string= group "important")
13927 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13928 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13930 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13931 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13932 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13935 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13936 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13938 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13939 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13940 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13941 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13942 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13943 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13944 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13945 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13946 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13947 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13948 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13949 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13950 name or @code{delete}.
13952 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13954 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13957 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13958 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13959 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13960 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13961 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13964 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13965 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13966 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13967 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13968 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13971 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13972 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13973 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13974 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13975 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13976 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13978 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13979 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13980 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13981 easier for procmail users.
13983 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13984 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13985 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13986 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13987 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13988 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13989 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13990 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13991 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13992 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13993 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13994 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13995 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13998 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14000 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14001 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14002 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14003 auto-expire turned on.
14007 @subsection Washing Mail
14008 @cindex mail washing
14009 @cindex list server brain damage
14010 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14012 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14013 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14014 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14015 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14016 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14017 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14019 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14020 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14021 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14024 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14025 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14026 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14027 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14030 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14031 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14032 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14033 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14034 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14037 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14038 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14039 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14040 Emacs running on MS machines.
14044 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14045 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14046 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14047 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14050 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14051 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14052 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14053 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14055 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14056 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14057 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14058 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14059 into a feature by documenting it.)
14061 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14062 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14063 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14064 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14065 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14066 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14067 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14070 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14071 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14074 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14075 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14078 This can also be done non-destructively with
14079 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14081 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14082 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14083 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14085 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14086 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14088 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14089 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14090 @code{References} headers.
14094 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14095 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14096 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14100 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14101 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14102 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14109 @subsection Duplicates
14111 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14112 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14113 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14114 @cindex duplicate mails
14115 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14116 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14117 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14118 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14119 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14120 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14121 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14122 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14123 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14124 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14125 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14126 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14127 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14129 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14130 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14131 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14132 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14134 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14137 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14138 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14142 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14143 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14144 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14145 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14146 (any mail "mail.misc")
14153 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14154 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14159 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14160 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14161 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14162 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14163 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14166 @node Not Reading Mail
14167 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14169 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14170 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14171 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14173 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14174 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14175 mail, which should help.
14177 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14178 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14179 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14180 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14181 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14182 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14183 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14184 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14185 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14186 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14187 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14189 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14190 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14194 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14195 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14197 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14198 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14199 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14201 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14202 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14203 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14204 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14205 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14206 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14207 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14210 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14211 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14212 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14213 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14214 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14215 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14219 @node Unix Mail Box
14220 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14222 @cindex unix mail box
14224 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14225 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14226 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14227 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14228 which group it belongs in.
14230 Virtual server settings:
14233 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14234 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14235 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14238 @item nnmbox-active-file
14239 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14240 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14241 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14243 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14244 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14245 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14246 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14251 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14255 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14256 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14257 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14258 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14259 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14261 Virtual server settings:
14264 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14265 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14266 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14268 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14269 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14270 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14271 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14273 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14274 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14275 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14281 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14283 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14285 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14286 format. It should be used with some caution.
14288 @vindex nnml-directory
14289 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14290 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14291 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14292 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14294 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14297 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14298 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14299 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14300 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14301 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14302 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14303 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14304 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14306 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14307 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14308 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14309 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14311 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14313 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14314 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14315 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14316 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14317 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14318 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14319 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14320 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14323 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14324 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14325 them next time it starts.
14327 Virtual server settings:
14330 @item nnml-directory
14331 @vindex nnml-directory
14332 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14333 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14336 @item nnml-active-file
14337 @vindex nnml-active-file
14338 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14339 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14341 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14342 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14343 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14344 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14346 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14347 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14348 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14351 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14352 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14353 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14354 default is @code{nil}.
14356 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14357 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14358 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14360 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14361 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14362 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14364 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14365 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14366 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14367 default is @code{nil}.
14369 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14370 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14371 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14373 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14374 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14375 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14380 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14381 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14382 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14383 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14384 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14385 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14386 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14391 @subsubsection MH Spool
14393 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14395 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14396 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14397 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14398 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14400 Virtual server settings:
14403 @item nnmh-directory
14404 @vindex nnmh-directory
14405 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14406 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14409 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14410 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14411 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14415 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14416 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14417 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14418 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14419 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14420 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14421 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14426 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14428 @cindex mbox folders
14429 @cindex mail folders
14431 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14432 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14433 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14436 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14438 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14439 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14440 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14441 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14442 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14443 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14444 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14445 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14446 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14447 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14449 Virtual server settings:
14452 @item nnfolder-directory
14453 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14454 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14455 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14458 @item nnfolder-active-file
14459 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14460 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14462 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14463 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14464 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14465 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14467 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14468 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14469 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14472 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14473 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14474 @cindex backup files
14475 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14476 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14477 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14478 your @file{.emacs} file:
14481 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14482 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14484 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14487 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14488 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14489 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14490 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14491 extract some information from it before removing it.
14493 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14494 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14495 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14496 default is @code{nil}.
14498 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14499 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14500 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14502 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14503 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14504 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14505 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14507 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14508 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14509 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14510 default is @code{nil}.
14512 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14513 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14514 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14516 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14517 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14518 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14519 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14524 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14525 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14526 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14527 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14528 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14529 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14532 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14533 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14535 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14536 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14537 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14538 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14539 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14541 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14542 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14543 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14544 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14545 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14546 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14547 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14548 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14551 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14552 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14553 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14554 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14559 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14560 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14561 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14562 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14563 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14564 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14565 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14566 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14567 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14568 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14569 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14570 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14571 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14576 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14577 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14578 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14579 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14580 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14581 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14582 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14583 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14584 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14585 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14586 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14587 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14588 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14589 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14591 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14592 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14597 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14598 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14599 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14600 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14601 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14602 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14603 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14604 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14605 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14606 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14607 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14608 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14609 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14610 provided by the active file and overviews.
14612 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14613 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14614 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14615 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14616 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14619 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14620 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14625 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14626 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14627 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14628 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14629 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14630 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14631 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14635 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14636 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14637 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14638 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14639 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14640 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14641 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14642 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14643 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14645 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14646 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14647 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14648 friendly mail back end all over.
14652 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14653 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14654 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14655 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14656 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14657 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14658 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14659 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14662 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14663 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14664 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14665 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14666 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14667 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14668 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14669 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14670 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14671 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14672 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14674 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14675 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14676 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14677 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14678 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14679 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14680 This will probably be changed in the future.
14682 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14683 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14684 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14685 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14686 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14689 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14690 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14692 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14693 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14694 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14695 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14696 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14697 would) to make it use less memory.
14699 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14700 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14701 depending in part on your file system.
14703 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14704 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14709 @node Browsing the Web
14710 @section Browsing the Web
14712 @cindex browsing the web
14716 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14717 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14718 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14719 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14720 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14721 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14722 even know what a news group is.
14724 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14725 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14726 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14727 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14728 you mad in the end.
14730 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14733 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14734 interfaces to these sources.
14738 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14739 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14740 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14741 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14742 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14743 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14746 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14748 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14749 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14750 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14751 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14752 though, you should be ok.
14754 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14755 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14756 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14757 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14758 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14760 @node Archiving Mail
14761 @subsection Archiving Mail
14762 @cindex archiving mail
14763 @cindex backup of mail
14765 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14766 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14767 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14768 marks is fairly simple.
14770 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14771 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14774 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14775 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14776 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14777 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14778 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14779 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14780 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14781 before you restore the data.
14783 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14784 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14785 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14786 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14787 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14788 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14789 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14790 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14791 is unnecessary in that case.
14794 @subsection Web Searches
14799 @cindex Usenet searches
14800 @cindex searching the Usenet
14802 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14803 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14804 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14805 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14806 searches without having to use a browser.
14808 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14809 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14810 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14811 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14812 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14814 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14815 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14816 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14817 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14818 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14819 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14820 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14821 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14822 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14823 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14826 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14827 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14828 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14829 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14830 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14831 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14833 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14834 to use @code{nnweb}.
14836 Virtual server variables:
14841 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14842 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14843 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14846 @vindex nnweb-search
14847 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14849 @item nnweb-max-hits
14850 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14851 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14854 @item nnweb-type-definition
14855 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14856 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14857 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14862 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14866 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14869 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14872 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14876 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14883 @subsection Slashdot
14887 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14888 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14889 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14891 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14892 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14895 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14896 '((nnslashdot "")))
14899 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14900 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14901 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14902 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14903 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14906 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14907 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14909 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14910 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14911 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14912 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14913 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14914 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14917 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14920 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14921 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14922 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14923 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14924 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14925 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14926 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
14928 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14929 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14930 The login name to use when posting.
14932 @item nnslashdot-password
14933 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14934 The password to use when posting.
14936 @item nnslashdot-directory
14937 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14938 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14939 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14941 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14942 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14943 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14944 news articles and comments. The default is
14945 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14947 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14948 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14949 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14951 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14953 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14954 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14955 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14957 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14959 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14960 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14961 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14963 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14964 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14965 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14966 updated. The default is 0.
14973 @subsection Ultimate
14975 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14977 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14978 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14979 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14980 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14982 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14983 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14984 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14985 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14986 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14987 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14988 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14990 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14993 @item nnultimate-directory
14994 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14995 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14996 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
15001 @subsection Web Archive
15003 @cindex Web Archive
15005 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15006 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15007 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15008 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15011 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15012 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15013 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15014 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15015 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15016 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15017 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15019 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15022 @item nnwarchive-directory
15023 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15024 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15025 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
15027 @item nnwarchive-login
15028 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15029 The account name on the web server.
15031 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15032 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15033 The password for your account on the web server.
15041 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15042 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15043 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15046 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15047 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15050 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15053 @item nnrss-directory
15054 @vindex nnrss-directory
15055 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15056 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
15060 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15061 the summary buffer.
15064 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15065 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15067 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15069 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15070 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15073 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15076 (require 'browse-url)
15078 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15080 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15083 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15084 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15087 (browse-url (cdr url))
15088 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15089 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15091 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15092 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15093 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15094 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15097 @node Customizing w3
15098 @subsection Customizing w3
15104 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15105 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15106 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15108 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15109 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15110 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15113 (eval-after-load "w3"
15115 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15116 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15117 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15118 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15120 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15123 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15124 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15133 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
15134 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15135 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15136 specify the network address of the server.
15138 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15139 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15140 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15141 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15142 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15144 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15145 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15146 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15147 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15149 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15150 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15151 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15152 usage explained in this section.
15154 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15155 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15156 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15159 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15160 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15161 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15163 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15164 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15165 ; a UW server running on localhost
15167 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15168 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15169 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15170 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15171 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15172 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15173 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15174 (nnimap-stream network))
15175 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15177 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15178 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15179 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15182 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15187 @item nnimap-address
15188 @vindex nnimap-address
15190 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15191 server name if not specified.
15193 @item nnimap-server-port
15194 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15195 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15197 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15200 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15201 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15204 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15205 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15206 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15207 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15208 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15209 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15210 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15212 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15213 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15214 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15217 Example server specification:
15220 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15221 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15222 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15225 @item nnimap-stream
15226 @vindex nnimap-stream
15227 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15228 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15229 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15230 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15232 Example server specification:
15235 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15236 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15239 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15243 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15244 @samp{imtest} program.
15246 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15248 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15249 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15252 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15253 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15254 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15256 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15258 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15261 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15262 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15263 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15264 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15265 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15266 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15267 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15268 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15269 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15272 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15273 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15274 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15275 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15276 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15277 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15278 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15279 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15280 distribution, for instance).
15282 @vindex imap-shell-program
15283 @vindex imap-shell-host
15284 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15285 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15287 @item nnimap-authenticator
15288 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15290 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15291 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15293 Example server specification:
15296 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15297 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15300 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15304 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15305 external program @code{imtest}.
15307 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15310 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15311 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15313 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15315 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15317 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15320 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15322 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15323 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15324 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15325 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15326 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15327 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15330 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15331 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15332 running in circles yet?
15334 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15335 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15338 The possible options are:
15343 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15346 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15347 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15348 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15349 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15351 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15356 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15357 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15359 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15360 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15361 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15362 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15363 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15366 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15367 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15370 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15371 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15372 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15373 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15376 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15377 as ticked for other users.
15379 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15381 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15383 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15384 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15385 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15386 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15388 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15389 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15390 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15391 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15393 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15394 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15396 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15397 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15398 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15404 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15405 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15406 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15407 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15408 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15413 @node Splitting in IMAP
15414 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15415 @cindex splitting imap mail
15417 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15418 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15419 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15420 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15421 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15425 Here are the variables of interest:
15429 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15430 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15432 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15434 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15435 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15437 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15439 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15440 @cindex splitting, inbox
15442 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15444 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15445 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15449 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15450 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15453 No nnmail equivalent.
15455 @item nnimap-split-rule
15456 @cindex Splitting, rules
15457 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15459 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15462 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15463 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15464 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15465 Neither did I, we need examples.
15468 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15470 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15471 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15472 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15475 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15476 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15477 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15479 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15480 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15484 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15487 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15488 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15490 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15491 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15492 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15493 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15495 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15496 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15497 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15498 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15499 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15500 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15502 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15503 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15504 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15506 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15507 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15508 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15510 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15512 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15513 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15514 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15517 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15518 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15519 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15520 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15521 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15522 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15525 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15526 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15527 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15528 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15529 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15530 group/function elements.
15532 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15534 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15536 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15538 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15539 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15541 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15542 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15543 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15546 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15547 @cindex splitting, fancy
15548 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15549 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15551 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15552 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15553 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15555 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15556 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15557 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15558 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15563 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15564 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15567 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15569 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15570 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15571 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15573 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15574 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15575 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15576 analyses the body to split the article.
15580 @node Expiring in IMAP
15581 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15582 @cindex expiring imap mail
15584 Even though @sc{nnimap} is not a proper @sc{nnmail} derived back end,
15585 it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15586 Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do not clone
15587 the @sc{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating @var{nnimap-expiry-wait})
15588 but reuse the @sc{nnmail} variables. What follows below are the
15589 variables used by the @sc{nnimap} expiry process.
15591 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15592 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15593 @sc{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15594 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15595 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15596 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15597 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15598 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15602 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15603 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15605 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15606 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15608 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15610 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15611 @sc{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15612 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15613 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15617 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15618 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15619 @cindex editing imap acls
15620 @cindex Access Control Lists
15621 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15623 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15625 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15626 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15627 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15630 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15631 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15632 editing window with detailed instructions.
15634 Some possible uses:
15638 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15639 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15640 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15642 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15643 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15644 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15648 @node Expunging mailboxes
15649 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15653 @cindex Manual expunging
15655 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15657 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15658 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15659 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15661 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15664 @node A note on namespaces
15665 @subsection A note on namespaces
15666 @cindex IMAP namespace
15669 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15670 following text in the RFC:
15673 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15675 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15676 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15677 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15678 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15680 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15681 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15682 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15683 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15684 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15685 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15688 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15689 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15690 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15692 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15693 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15694 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15695 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15696 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15697 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15698 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15699 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15701 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15702 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15703 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15705 @node Other Sources
15706 @section Other Sources
15708 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15709 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15713 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15714 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15715 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15716 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15717 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15721 @node Directory Groups
15722 @subsection Directory Groups
15724 @cindex directory groups
15726 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15727 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15730 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15731 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15732 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15733 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15735 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15736 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15737 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15738 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15739 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15741 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15743 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15744 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15745 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15746 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15749 @node Anything Groups
15750 @subsection Anything Groups
15753 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15754 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15755 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15758 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15759 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15760 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15761 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15762 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15763 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15764 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15765 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15766 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15767 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15770 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15771 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15772 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15773 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15775 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15776 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15777 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15778 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15780 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15781 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15782 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15783 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15784 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15785 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15786 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15787 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15792 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15793 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15794 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15795 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15797 @item nneething-exclude-files
15798 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15799 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15800 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15802 @item nneething-include-files
15803 @vindex nneething-include-files
15804 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15805 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15807 @item nneething-map-file
15808 @vindex nneething-map-file
15809 Name of the map files.
15813 @node Document Groups
15814 @subsection Document Groups
15816 @cindex documentation group
15819 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15820 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15827 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15832 The standard Unix mbox file.
15834 @cindex MMDF mail box
15836 The MMDF mail box format.
15839 Several news articles appended into a file.
15842 @cindex rnews batch files
15843 The rnews batch transport format.
15844 @cindex forwarded messages
15847 Forwarded articles.
15850 Netscape mail boxes.
15853 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15855 @item standard-digest
15856 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15859 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15861 @item lanl-gov-announce
15862 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15864 @item rfc822-forward
15865 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15868 The Outlook mail box.
15871 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15874 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15877 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15880 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15886 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15889 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15895 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15896 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15897 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15900 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15901 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15902 group. And that's it.
15904 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15905 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15906 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15907 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15908 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15909 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15910 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15911 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15912 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15913 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15915 Virtual server variables:
15918 @item nndoc-article-type
15919 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15920 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15921 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15922 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15923 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15924 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15926 @item nndoc-post-type
15927 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15928 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15929 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15934 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15938 @node Document Server Internals
15939 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15941 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15942 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15943 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15944 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15946 First, here's an example document type definition:
15950 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15951 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15954 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15955 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15956 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15957 types can be defined with very few settings:
15960 @item first-article
15961 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15962 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15965 @item article-begin
15966 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15967 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15969 @item head-begin-function
15970 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15973 @item nndoc-head-begin
15974 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15977 @item nndoc-head-end
15978 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15979 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15981 @item body-begin-function
15982 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15986 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15989 @item body-end-function
15990 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15994 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15997 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15998 regexp will be totally ignored.
16002 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16003 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16004 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16005 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16006 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16009 @item prepare-body-function
16010 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16011 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16012 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16014 @item article-transform-function
16015 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16016 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16017 body of the article.
16019 @item generate-head-function
16020 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16021 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16022 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16023 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16027 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16032 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16033 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16034 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16035 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16036 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16037 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16038 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16039 (subtype digest guess))
16042 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16043 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16044 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16045 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16046 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16048 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16049 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
16050 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
16051 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
16052 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
16053 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16054 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
16055 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16056 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
16057 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16065 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16066 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16067 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16069 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16070 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16071 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16074 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16075 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16076 that interested in doing things properly.
16078 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16079 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16082 First some terminology:
16087 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16088 get news and/or mail from.
16091 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16092 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16095 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16099 @item message packets
16100 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16101 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16102 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16104 @item response packets
16105 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16106 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16107 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16117 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16118 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16119 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16120 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16123 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16126 You put the packet in your home directory.
16129 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16130 the native or secondary server.
16133 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16134 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16137 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16141 You transfer this packet to the server.
16144 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16147 You then repeat until you die.
16151 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16152 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16155 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16156 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16157 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16161 @node SOUP Commands
16162 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16164 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16168 @kindex G s b (Group)
16169 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16170 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16171 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16172 process/prefix convention.
16175 @kindex G s w (Group)
16176 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16177 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16180 @kindex G s s (Group)
16181 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16182 Send all replies from the replies packet
16183 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16186 @kindex G s p (Group)
16187 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16188 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16191 @kindex G s r (Group)
16192 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16193 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16196 @kindex O s (Summary)
16197 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16198 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16199 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16200 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16205 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16210 @item gnus-soup-directory
16211 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16212 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16213 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16215 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16216 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16217 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16218 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16220 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16221 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16222 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16223 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16225 @item gnus-soup-packer
16226 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16227 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16228 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16230 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16231 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16232 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16233 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16235 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16236 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16237 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16239 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16240 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16241 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16242 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16248 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16251 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16252 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16253 you can read them at leisure.
16255 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16259 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16260 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16261 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16262 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16264 @item nnsoup-directory
16265 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16266 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16267 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16269 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16270 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16271 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16272 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16274 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16275 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16276 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16277 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16278 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16280 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16281 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16282 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16283 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16285 @item nnsoup-active-file
16286 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16287 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16288 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16289 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16290 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16292 @item nnsoup-packer
16293 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16294 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16295 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16297 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16298 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16299 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16300 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16302 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16303 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16304 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16307 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16308 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16309 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16312 @item nnsoup-always-save
16313 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16314 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16320 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16322 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16323 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16324 more for that to happen.
16326 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16327 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16328 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16331 In specific, this is what it does:
16334 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16335 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16338 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16339 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16340 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16343 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16344 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16345 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16348 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16349 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16350 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16352 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16358 @item nngateway-address
16359 @vindex nngateway-address
16360 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16362 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16363 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16364 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16365 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16366 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16367 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16368 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16371 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16372 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16373 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16376 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16379 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16382 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16385 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16387 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16390 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16391 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16392 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16394 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16396 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16397 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16398 @code{nngateway-address}.
16403 (setq gnus-post-method
16405 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16406 (nngateway-header-transformation
16407 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16415 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16418 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16423 @node Combined Groups
16424 @section Combined Groups
16426 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16430 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16431 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16435 @node Virtual Groups
16436 @subsection Virtual Groups
16438 @cindex virtual groups
16439 @cindex merging groups
16441 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16444 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16445 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16446 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16448 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16449 regexp to match component groups.
16451 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16452 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16453 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16454 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16455 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16456 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16457 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16458 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16460 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16461 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16464 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16467 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16468 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16470 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16471 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16472 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16473 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16476 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16479 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16480 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16481 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16483 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16484 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16485 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16486 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16487 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16489 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16490 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16491 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16493 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16494 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16495 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16496 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16497 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16498 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16499 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16500 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16501 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16502 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16503 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16505 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16506 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16507 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16508 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16509 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16510 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16511 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16513 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16514 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16516 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16517 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16521 @node Kibozed Groups
16522 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16526 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16527 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16528 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16529 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16531 @kindex G k (Group)
16532 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16535 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16536 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16537 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16538 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16540 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16541 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16542 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16544 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16545 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16546 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16547 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16548 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16549 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16550 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16551 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16553 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16554 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16555 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16556 Stranger things have happened.
16558 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16559 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16561 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16562 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16563 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16564 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16565 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16566 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16568 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16569 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16572 @node Gnus Unplugged
16573 @section Gnus Unplugged
16578 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16580 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16581 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16582 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16583 read news. Believe it or not.
16585 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16586 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16587 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16588 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16589 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16591 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16592 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16593 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16594 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16595 reading news on a machine.
16597 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16598 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16600 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16603 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16604 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16605 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16606 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16607 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16608 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16609 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16610 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16611 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16612 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16613 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16618 @subsection Agent Basics
16620 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16622 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16623 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16624 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16625 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16627 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16628 connected to the net continuously.
16630 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16631 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16633 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16638 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16639 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16640 already fetched while in this mode.
16643 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16644 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16645 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16646 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16647 Source Specifiers}).
16650 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16651 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16652 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16653 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16654 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16657 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16658 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16659 then you read the news offline.
16662 And then you go to step 2.
16665 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16671 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16672 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16673 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16674 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16675 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16676 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16677 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16678 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16681 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16688 @node Agent Categories
16689 @subsection Agent Categories
16691 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16692 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16693 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16694 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16695 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16696 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16697 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16699 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16700 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16701 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16702 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16703 managing categories.
16706 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16707 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16708 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16712 @node Category Syntax
16713 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16715 A category consists of two things.
16719 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16720 are eligible for downloading; and
16723 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16724 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16725 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16728 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16729 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16730 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16731 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16733 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16734 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16735 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16737 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16738 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16739 operators sprinkled in between.
16741 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16743 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16744 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16750 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16751 short (for some value of ``short'').
16753 Here's a more complex predicate:
16762 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16763 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16766 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16767 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16768 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16770 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16771 you want to do, you can write your own.
16775 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16776 lines; default 100.
16779 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16780 lines; default 200.
16783 True iff the article has a download score less than
16784 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16787 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16788 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16791 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16792 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16793 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16802 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16803 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16804 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16807 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16808 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16809 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16810 something along the lines of the following:
16813 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16814 "Say whether an article is old."
16815 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16816 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16819 with the predicate then defined as:
16822 (not my-article-old-p)
16825 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16826 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16830 (require 'gnus-agent)
16831 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16832 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16833 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16836 and simply specify your predicate as:
16842 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16843 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16844 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16845 just don't give a damn.
16847 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16848 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16849 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16850 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16851 parameters like so:
16854 (agent-predicate . short)
16857 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16858 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16859 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16861 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16864 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16867 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16868 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16869 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16872 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16873 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16874 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16875 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16876 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16877 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16879 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16880 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16881 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16882 if it's to be specific to that group.
16884 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16891 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16892 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16898 Category specification
16902 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16908 Group Parameter specification
16911 (agent-score ("from"
16912 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16917 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16923 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16930 Category specification
16933 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16939 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16943 Group Parameter specification
16946 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16949 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16954 Use @code{normal} score files
16956 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16957 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16958 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16959 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16961 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16962 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16963 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16964 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16968 Category Specification
16975 Group Parameter specification
16978 (agent-score . file)
16983 @node Category Buffer
16984 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16986 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16987 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16988 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16990 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16994 @kindex q (Category)
16995 @findex gnus-category-exit
16996 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16999 @kindex k (Category)
17000 @findex gnus-category-kill
17001 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17004 @kindex c (Category)
17005 @findex gnus-category-copy
17006 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17009 @kindex a (Category)
17010 @findex gnus-category-add
17011 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17014 @kindex p (Category)
17015 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17016 Edit the predicate of the current category
17017 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17020 @kindex g (Category)
17021 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17022 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17023 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17026 @kindex s (Category)
17027 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17028 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17029 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17032 @kindex l (Category)
17033 @findex gnus-category-list
17034 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17038 @node Category Variables
17039 @subsubsection Category Variables
17042 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17043 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17044 Hook run in category buffers.
17046 @item gnus-category-line-format
17047 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17048 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17049 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17053 The name of the category.
17056 The number of groups in the category.
17059 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17060 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17061 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17063 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17064 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17065 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17067 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17068 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17069 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17071 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17072 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17073 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17076 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17077 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17078 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17084 @node Agent Commands
17085 @subsection Agent Commands
17087 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17088 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17089 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17093 * Group Agent Commands::
17094 * Summary Agent Commands::
17095 * Server Agent Commands::
17101 @node Group Agent Commands
17102 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17106 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17107 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17108 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17109 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17112 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17113 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17114 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17117 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17118 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17119 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17120 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17123 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17124 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17125 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17126 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17129 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17130 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17131 Add the current group to an Agent category
17132 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17133 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17136 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17137 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17138 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17139 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17140 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17143 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17144 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17145 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17151 @node Summary Agent Commands
17152 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17156 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17157 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17158 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17161 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17162 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17163 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17164 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17168 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17169 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17170 Toggle whether to download the article
17171 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17175 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17176 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17177 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
17180 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17181 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17182 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17183 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17188 @node Server Agent Commands
17189 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17193 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17194 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17195 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17196 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17199 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17200 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17201 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17202 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17207 @node Agent as Cache
17208 @subsection Agent as Cache
17210 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17211 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17212 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17213 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17214 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17215 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17216 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17217 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17218 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17220 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17221 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17224 @subsection Agent Expiry
17226 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17227 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17228 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17229 @cindex Agent expiry
17230 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17233 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17234 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17235 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17236 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17237 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17238 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17240 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17241 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17242 expiry in different groups.
17245 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17251 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17252 method---it must always match all groups.
17254 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17255 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17256 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17257 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17258 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17260 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17261 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17262 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17263 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17265 @node Agent and IMAP
17266 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17268 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17269 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17270 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17271 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17273 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17274 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
17275 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17276 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17278 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17279 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17280 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17281 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17283 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17284 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17285 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17286 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17287 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17288 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17290 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17291 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17292 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17293 in the group buffer.
17295 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17296 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17301 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17304 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17308 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17309 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17310 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17311 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17312 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17313 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17314 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17315 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17318 @node Outgoing Messages
17319 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17321 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17322 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17323 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17325 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17326 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17327 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17328 messages in the draft group.
17332 @node Agent Variables
17333 @subsection Agent Variables
17336 @item gnus-agent-directory
17337 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17338 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17339 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17341 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17342 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17343 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17344 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17345 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17348 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17349 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17350 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17352 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17353 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17354 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17356 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17357 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17358 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17360 @item gnus-agent-cache
17361 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17362 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17363 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17364 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17366 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17367 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17368 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17369 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17370 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17371 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17372 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17375 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17376 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17377 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17378 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17379 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17380 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17381 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17382 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17383 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17388 @node Example Setup
17389 @subsection Example Setup
17391 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17392 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17393 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17396 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17397 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17398 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17400 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17401 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17402 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17404 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17405 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17407 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17408 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17409 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17412 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17413 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17416 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17417 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17418 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17419 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17420 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17423 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17424 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17425 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17426 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17427 back all the killed groups.)
17429 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17430 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17431 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17434 @node Batching Agents
17435 @subsection Batching Agents
17437 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17438 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17439 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17441 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17442 following incantation:
17446 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17450 @node Agent Caveats
17451 @subsection Agent Caveats
17453 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17454 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17458 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17460 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
17461 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
17462 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
17464 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17466 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17470 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17471 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17472 locally stored articles.
17479 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17480 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17481 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17484 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17485 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17486 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17487 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17488 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17490 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17491 before generating the summary buffer.
17493 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17494 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17495 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17497 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17498 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17499 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17500 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17503 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17504 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17505 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17506 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17507 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17508 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17509 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17510 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17511 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17512 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17513 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17514 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17515 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17516 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17517 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17518 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17519 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17523 @node Summary Score Commands
17524 @section Summary Score Commands
17525 @cindex score commands
17527 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17528 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17529 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17530 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17531 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17533 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17534 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17535 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17536 score file the current one.
17538 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17543 @kindex V s (Summary)
17544 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17545 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17548 @kindex V S (Summary)
17549 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17550 Display the score of the current article
17551 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17554 @kindex V t (Summary)
17555 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17556 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17557 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17560 @kindex V w (Summary)
17561 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17562 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17565 @kindex V R (Summary)
17566 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17567 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17568 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17569 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17570 effect you're having.
17573 @kindex V c (Summary)
17574 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17575 Make a different score file the current
17576 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17579 @kindex V e (Summary)
17580 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17581 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17582 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17586 @kindex V f (Summary)
17587 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17588 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17589 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17592 @kindex V F (Summary)
17593 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17594 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17595 after editing score files.
17598 @kindex V C (Summary)
17599 @findex gnus-score-customize
17600 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17601 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17605 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17610 @kindex V m (Summary)
17611 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17612 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17613 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17616 @kindex V x (Summary)
17617 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17618 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17619 expunge all articles below this score
17620 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17623 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17624 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17627 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17628 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17632 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17633 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17635 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17636 keys are available:
17640 Score on the author name.
17643 Score on the subject line.
17646 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17649 Score on the @code{References} line.
17655 Score on the number of lines.
17658 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17661 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17662 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17665 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17666 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17667 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17676 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17682 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17683 what headers you are scoring on.
17695 Substring matching.
17698 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17727 Greater than number.
17732 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17733 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17734 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17739 Temporary score entry.
17742 Permanent score entry.
17745 Immediately scoring.
17749 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17750 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17751 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17755 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17756 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17757 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17758 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17760 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17761 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17762 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17763 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17764 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17766 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17767 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17768 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17769 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17770 current score file.
17772 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17773 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17774 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17777 @node Group Score Commands
17778 @section Group Score Commands
17779 @cindex group score commands
17781 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17786 @kindex W f (Group)
17787 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17788 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17789 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17790 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17794 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17796 @findex gnus-batch-score
17797 @cindex batch scoring
17799 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17803 @node Score Variables
17804 @section Score Variables
17805 @cindex score variables
17809 @item gnus-use-scoring
17810 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17811 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17812 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17814 @item gnus-kill-killed
17815 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17816 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17817 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17818 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17819 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17820 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17821 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17823 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17824 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17825 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17826 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17827 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17829 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17830 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17831 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17832 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17834 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17835 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17836 @cindex score cache
17837 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17838 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17839 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
17840 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17841 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17842 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17845 @item gnus-save-score
17846 @vindex gnus-save-score
17847 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17848 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17849 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17851 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17852 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17853 across group visits.
17855 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17856 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17857 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17858 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17859 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17860 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17861 manually entered data.
17863 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17864 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17865 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17867 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17868 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17869 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17870 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17871 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17872 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17874 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17875 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17876 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17877 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17879 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17880 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17881 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17882 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17884 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17885 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17886 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17887 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17889 Predefined functions available are:
17892 @item gnus-score-find-single
17893 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17894 Only apply the group's own score file.
17896 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17897 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17898 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17899 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17900 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17901 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17902 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17903 then a regexp match is done.
17905 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17906 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17908 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17909 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17910 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17911 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17913 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17914 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17915 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17916 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17917 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17921 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17922 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17923 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17924 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17925 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17926 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17927 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17930 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17931 overall score file, you could use the value
17933 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17934 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17937 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17938 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17939 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17940 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17941 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17943 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17944 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17945 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17946 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17947 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17948 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17949 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17950 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17952 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17953 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17954 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17956 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17957 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17958 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17959 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17960 threading---according to the current value of
17961 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17962 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17963 simplified in this manner.
17968 @node Score File Format
17969 @section Score File Format
17970 @cindex score file format
17972 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17973 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17974 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17976 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17980 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17982 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17984 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17986 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17991 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17995 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17996 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17997 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17998 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18002 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18003 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18005 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18006 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18007 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18009 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18014 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18015 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18016 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18017 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18018 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18019 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18020 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18021 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18022 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18023 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18024 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18025 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18026 to articles that matches these score entries.
18028 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18029 score entry has one to four elements.
18033 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18034 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18038 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18039 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18040 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18041 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18042 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18043 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18046 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18047 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18048 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18049 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18050 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18053 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18054 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18055 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18056 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18059 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18060 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18061 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18062 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18063 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18064 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18065 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18066 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18067 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18068 instead, if you feel like.
18071 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18072 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18073 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18074 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18075 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18076 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18079 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18083 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18084 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18086 These predicates are true if
18089 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18092 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18093 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18100 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18101 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18102 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18103 it's not. I think.)
18105 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18106 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18107 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18108 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18111 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18112 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18113 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18114 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18115 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18116 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18117 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18121 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18122 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18123 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18124 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18125 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18126 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18127 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18128 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18131 @item Head, Body, All
18132 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18136 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18137 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18138 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18139 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18140 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18141 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18142 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18146 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18147 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18148 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18149 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18150 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18151 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18152 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18153 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18154 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18155 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18156 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18160 @cindex Score File Atoms
18162 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18163 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18166 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18167 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18169 @item mark-and-expunge
18170 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18171 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18174 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18175 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18176 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18177 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18178 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18181 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18182 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18185 @item exclude-files
18186 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18187 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18191 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18192 ignored when handling global score files.
18195 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18196 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18197 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18198 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18201 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18202 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18203 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18204 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18206 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18210 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18213 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18214 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18215 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18216 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18217 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18219 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18220 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18221 scoring rules exist.
18224 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18225 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18226 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18227 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18228 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18229 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18230 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18231 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18232 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18233 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18234 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18238 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18239 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18240 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18241 file for a number of groups.
18244 @cindex local variables
18245 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18246 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18247 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18248 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18249 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18253 @node Score File Editing
18254 @section Score File Editing
18256 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18257 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18258 with a mode for that.
18260 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18261 additional commands:
18266 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18267 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18268 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18269 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18272 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18273 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18274 Insert the current date in numerical format
18275 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18276 you were wondering.
18279 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18280 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18281 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18282 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18283 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18288 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18290 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18291 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18293 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18294 e} to begin editing score files.
18297 @node Adaptive Scoring
18298 @section Adaptive Scoring
18299 @cindex adaptive scoring
18301 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18302 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18303 stupidity, to be precise.
18305 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18306 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18307 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18308 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18309 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18310 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18311 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18312 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18313 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18315 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18316 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18317 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18318 might look something like this:
18321 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18322 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18323 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18324 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18325 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18326 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18327 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18328 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18329 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18330 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18331 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18332 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18335 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18336 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18337 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18338 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18339 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18340 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18343 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18344 will be applied to each article.
18346 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18347 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18348 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18349 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18351 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18352 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18353 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18354 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18356 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18357 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18358 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18359 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18361 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18362 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18363 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18364 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18365 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18366 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18368 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
18369 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
18370 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
18371 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
18372 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
18373 aspirins afterwards.)
18375 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18376 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18377 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18379 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18380 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18381 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18383 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18384 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18385 let you use different rules in different groups.
18387 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18388 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18389 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18392 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18393 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18394 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18395 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18396 the length of the match is less than
18397 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18398 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18401 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18402 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18403 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18404 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18405 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18408 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18409 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18410 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18411 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18412 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18415 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18416 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18417 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18418 score with 30 points.
18420 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18421 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18422 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18423 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18424 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18426 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18427 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18428 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18429 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18430 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18432 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18433 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18434 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18435 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18437 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18438 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18439 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18440 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18442 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18443 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18444 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18445 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18446 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18448 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18449 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18450 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18452 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18453 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18454 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18455 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18458 @node Home Score File
18459 @section Home Score File
18461 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18462 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18463 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18464 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18466 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18467 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18468 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18470 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18471 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18476 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18480 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18481 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18485 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18489 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18490 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18493 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18494 the home score file.
18497 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18500 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18505 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18508 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18509 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18512 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18513 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18515 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18517 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18518 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18521 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18522 Other functions include
18525 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18526 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18527 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18528 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18532 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18533 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18534 their own home score files:
18537 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18538 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18539 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18540 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18541 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18544 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18545 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18546 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18547 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18548 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18550 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18551 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18552 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18553 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18554 precedence over this variable.
18557 @node Followups To Yourself
18558 @section Followups To Yourself
18560 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18561 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18562 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18563 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18564 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18565 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18569 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18570 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18571 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18574 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18575 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18576 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18580 @vindex message-sent-hook
18581 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18582 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18584 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18588 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18589 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18593 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18594 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18597 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18598 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18603 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18607 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18608 is system-dependent.
18611 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18612 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18613 @cindex scoring on other headers
18615 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18616 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18617 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18618 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18619 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18621 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18622 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18623 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18624 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18625 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18627 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18630 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18631 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18634 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18635 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18636 time if you have much mail.
18638 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18639 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18645 @section Scoring Tips
18646 @cindex scoring tips
18652 @cindex scoring crossposts
18653 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18654 the @code{Xref} header.
18656 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18659 @item Multiple crossposts
18660 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18661 more than, say, 3 groups:
18664 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18668 @item Matching on the body
18669 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18670 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18671 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18672 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18673 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18674 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18675 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18678 @item Marking as read
18679 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18680 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18681 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18685 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18687 @item Negated character classes
18688 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18689 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18690 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18694 @node Reverse Scoring
18695 @section Reverse Scoring
18696 @cindex reverse scoring
18698 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18699 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18700 like this in your score file:
18704 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18709 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18710 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18713 @node Global Score Files
18714 @section Global Score Files
18715 @cindex global score files
18717 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18718 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18719 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18721 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18722 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18723 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18725 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18726 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18727 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18728 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18729 files are applicable to which group.
18731 To use the score file
18732 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18733 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18737 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18738 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18739 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18742 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18744 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18745 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18746 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18747 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18749 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18750 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18752 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18753 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18754 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18755 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18756 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18757 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18759 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18765 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18767 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18769 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18771 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18772 lowered out of existence.
18774 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18775 articles completely.
18778 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18779 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18780 old articles for a long time.
18783 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18784 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18785 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18786 holding our breath yet?
18790 @section Kill Files
18793 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18794 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18795 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18797 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18798 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18799 files into score files.
18801 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18802 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18803 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18804 that isn't a very good idea.
18806 Normal kill files look like this:
18809 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18810 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18814 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18815 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18817 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18818 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18821 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18826 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18827 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18828 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18831 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18832 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18833 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18836 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18841 @kindex M-k (Group)
18842 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18843 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18846 @kindex M-K (Group)
18847 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18848 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18851 Kill file variables:
18854 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18855 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18856 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18857 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18858 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18859 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18860 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18862 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18863 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18864 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18865 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18868 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18869 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18870 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18871 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18872 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18873 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18874 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18875 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18876 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18878 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18879 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18880 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18885 @node Converting Kill Files
18886 @section Converting Kill Files
18888 @cindex converting kill files
18890 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18891 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18892 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18895 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18896 You can fetch it from
18897 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18899 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18900 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18901 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18909 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18910 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18911 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18912 news articles generated every day.
18914 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18915 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18916 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18917 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18918 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18919 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18920 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18921 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18924 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18925 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18928 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18929 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18930 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18931 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18935 @node Using GroupLens
18936 @subsection Using GroupLens
18938 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18940 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18941 better bit in town at the moment.
18943 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18947 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18948 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18949 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18950 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18952 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18953 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18954 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18955 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18957 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18958 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18959 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18963 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18964 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18965 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18966 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18967 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18968 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18971 @node Rating Articles
18972 @subsection Rating Articles
18974 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18975 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18976 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18977 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18980 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18985 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18986 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18987 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18990 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18991 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18992 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18993 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18994 threads in rec.humor.
18998 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18999 the score of the article you're reading.
19004 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19005 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19006 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19009 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19010 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19011 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19015 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19016 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19019 @node Displaying Predictions
19020 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19022 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19023 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19024 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19025 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19026 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19028 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19029 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19030 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19031 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19032 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19033 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19034 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19035 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19036 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19037 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19038 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19039 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19040 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19042 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19043 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19044 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19045 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19047 The following are valid values for that variable.
19050 @item prediction-spot
19051 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19054 @item confidence-interval
19055 A numeric confidence interval.
19057 @item prediction-bar
19058 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19060 @item confidence-bar
19061 Numerical confidence.
19063 @item confidence-spot
19064 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19066 @item prediction-num
19067 Plain-old numeric value.
19069 @item confidence-plus-minus
19070 Prediction +/- confidence.
19075 @node GroupLens Variables
19076 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19080 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19081 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19082 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19083 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19086 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19087 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19090 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19091 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19093 @item grouplens-score-offset
19094 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19095 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19098 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19099 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19100 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19105 @node Advanced Scoring
19106 @section Advanced Scoring
19108 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19109 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19110 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19111 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19112 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19114 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19118 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19119 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19120 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19124 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19125 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19127 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19128 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19129 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19130 non-@code{nil} value.
19132 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19133 operator, and various match operators.
19140 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19141 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19142 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19147 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19148 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19149 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19154 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19155 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19159 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19160 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19161 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19162 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19163 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19164 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19165 the ancestry you want to go.
19167 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19168 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19169 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19170 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19171 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19174 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19175 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19177 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19178 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19181 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19182 when he's talking about Gnus:
19186 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19187 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19193 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19197 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19204 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19205 really don't want to read what he's written:
19209 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19210 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19214 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19215 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19216 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19223 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19224 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19225 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19226 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19230 The possibilities are endless.
19233 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19234 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19236 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19237 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19238 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19239 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19240 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19241 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19242 @samp{subject}) first.
19244 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19245 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19256 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19257 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19263 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19270 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19271 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19276 @section Score Decays
19277 @cindex score decays
19280 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19281 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19282 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19283 use them in any sensible way.
19285 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19286 @findex gnus-decay-score
19287 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19288 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19289 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19290 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19291 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19292 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19293 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19294 definition of that function:
19297 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19299 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19300 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19303 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19305 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19307 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19310 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19311 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19312 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19313 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19317 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19320 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19323 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19327 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19328 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19329 the new score, which should be an integer.
19331 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19332 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19337 @include message.texi
19338 @chapter Emacs MIME
19339 @include emacs-mime.texi
19341 @include sieve.texi
19343 @c @include pgg.texi
19351 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19352 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19353 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19354 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19355 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19356 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19357 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19358 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19359 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19360 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19361 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19362 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19363 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19364 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19365 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19366 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19367 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19368 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19369 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19373 @node Process/Prefix
19374 @section Process/Prefix
19375 @cindex process/prefix convention
19377 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19378 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19380 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19381 command to be performed on.
19385 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19386 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19387 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19388 with the current one.
19390 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19391 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19392 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19394 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19395 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19398 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19399 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19401 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19404 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19405 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19406 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19407 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19409 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19410 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19411 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19412 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19413 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19414 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19415 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19416 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19418 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19419 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19420 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19421 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19422 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19426 @section Interactive
19427 @cindex interaction
19431 @item gnus-novice-user
19432 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19433 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19434 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19435 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19436 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19439 @item gnus-expert-user
19440 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19441 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19442 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19443 matter how strange.
19445 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19446 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19447 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19448 is @code{t} by default.
19450 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19451 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19452 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19457 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19458 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19459 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19461 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19462 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19463 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19464 rule of 900 to the current article.
19466 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19467 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19468 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19469 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19470 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19471 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19472 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19474 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19475 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19476 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19477 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19478 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19479 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19480 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19481 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19482 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19484 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19485 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19486 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19488 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19492 @node Formatting Variables
19493 @section Formatting Variables
19494 @cindex formatting variables
19496 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19497 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19498 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19499 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19500 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19503 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19504 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19505 lots of percentages everywhere.
19508 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19509 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19510 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19511 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19512 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19513 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19514 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19515 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19518 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19519 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19520 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19521 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19522 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19523 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19524 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19525 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19527 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19528 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19530 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19531 @findex gnus-update-format
19532 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19533 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19534 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19535 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19539 @node Formatting Basics
19540 @subsection Formatting Basics
19542 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19543 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19544 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19546 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19547 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19548 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19549 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19550 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19553 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19554 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19555 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19556 less than 4 characters wide.
19558 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19559 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19562 @node Mode Line Formatting
19563 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19565 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19566 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19567 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19568 with the following two differences:
19573 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19576 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19577 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19578 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19579 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19580 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19581 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19582 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19587 @node Advanced Formatting
19588 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19590 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19591 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19592 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19593 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19595 These are the valid modifiers:
19600 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19604 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19609 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19612 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19617 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19620 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19623 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19626 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19632 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19637 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19638 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19639 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19640 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19641 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19642 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19643 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19645 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19646 last operation, padding.
19648 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19649 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
19650 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
19651 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
19652 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
19653 the look of your lines.
19654 @xref{Compilation}.
19657 @node User-Defined Specs
19658 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19660 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19661 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19662 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19663 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19664 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19665 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19666 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19667 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19668 should protect against that.
19670 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19671 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19673 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19674 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19675 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19676 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19680 @node Formatting Fonts
19681 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19683 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19684 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19685 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19686 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19689 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19690 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19691 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19692 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19693 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19694 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19696 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19697 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19698 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19699 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19700 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19701 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19702 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19703 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19704 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19705 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19707 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19710 ;; Create three face types.
19711 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19712 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19714 ;; We want the article count to be in
19715 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19716 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19717 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19719 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19720 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19722 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19723 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19724 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19727 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19728 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19730 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19731 mode-line variables.
19733 @node Positioning Point
19734 @subsection Positioning Point
19736 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19737 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19738 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19740 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19742 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19743 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19744 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19746 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19747 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
19748 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19753 @subsection Tabulation
19755 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19756 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19757 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19758 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19760 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19761 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19763 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19764 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19765 This is the soft tabulator.
19767 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19768 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19769 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19772 @node Wide Characters
19773 @subsection Wide Characters
19775 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19776 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19777 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19779 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19780 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19781 these countries, that's not true.
19783 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19784 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19785 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19786 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19790 @node Window Layout
19791 @section Window Layout
19792 @cindex window layout
19794 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19796 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19797 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19798 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19799 @code{t} by default.
19801 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19802 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19804 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19805 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19806 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19809 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19810 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19811 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19815 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19816 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19817 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19818 possible names is listed below.
19820 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19821 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19824 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19828 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19829 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19830 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19831 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19832 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19833 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19834 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19835 size spec per split.
19837 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19838 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19839 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19840 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19841 present) gets focus.
19843 Here's a more complicated example:
19846 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19847 (summary 0.25 point)
19848 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19852 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19853 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19854 occupy, not a percentage.
19856 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19857 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19858 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19859 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19860 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19863 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19866 (article (horizontal 1.0
19871 (summary 0.25 point)
19876 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19877 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19879 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19880 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19881 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19882 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19883 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19885 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19886 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19887 lines from the splits.
19889 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19893 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19894 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19895 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19896 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19897 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19898 size = number | frame-params
19899 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19902 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19903 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19904 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19905 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19907 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19908 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19909 @cindex window height
19910 @cindex window width
19911 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19912 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19913 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19914 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19915 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19916 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19918 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19919 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19920 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19921 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19923 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19924 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19925 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19926 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19927 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19928 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19929 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19930 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19931 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19932 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19933 configuration list.
19936 (gnus-configure-frame
19940 (article 0.3 point))
19948 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19949 @code{frame} split:
19952 (gnus-configure-frame
19955 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19957 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19958 (user-position . t)
19959 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19964 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19965 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19966 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19967 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19968 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19969 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19970 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19971 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19973 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19974 be found in its default value.
19976 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19977 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19978 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19982 (message (horizontal 1.0
19983 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19985 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19990 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19991 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19992 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19997 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19998 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19999 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20000 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20001 (name . "Message"))
20002 (message 1.0 point))))
20005 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20006 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20007 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20008 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20009 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20012 (gnus-add-configuration
20013 '(article (vertical 1.0
20015 (summary .25 point)
20019 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20020 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20021 Gnus has been loaded.
20023 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20024 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20025 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20026 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20027 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20029 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20030 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20031 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20034 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20038 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20039 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20054 (gnus-add-configuration
20057 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20059 (summary 0.16 point)
20062 (gnus-add-configuration
20065 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20066 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20072 @node Faces and Fonts
20073 @section Faces and Fonts
20078 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20079 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20080 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20085 @section Compilation
20086 @cindex compilation
20087 @cindex byte-compilation
20089 @findex gnus-compile
20091 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20092 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20093 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20094 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20095 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20096 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20097 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20098 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20101 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20102 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20103 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20104 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20105 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20108 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20109 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20110 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20111 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20112 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20117 @section Mode Lines
20120 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20121 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20122 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20123 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20124 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20125 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20126 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20129 @cindex display-time
20131 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20132 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20133 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20134 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20135 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20136 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20137 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20138 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20141 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20143 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20144 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20146 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20147 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20148 (length display-time-string)))))
20151 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20152 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20153 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20154 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20155 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20158 @node Highlighting and Menus
20159 @section Highlighting and Menus
20161 @cindex highlighting
20164 @vindex gnus-visual
20165 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20166 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20167 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20170 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20171 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20174 @item group-highlight
20175 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20176 @item summary-highlight
20177 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20178 @item article-highlight
20179 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20181 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20183 Create menus in the group buffer.
20185 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20187 Create menus in the article buffer.
20189 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20191 Create menus in the server buffer.
20193 Create menus in the score buffers.
20195 Create menus in all buffers.
20198 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20199 buffers, you could say something like:
20202 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20205 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20208 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20211 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20212 in all Gnus buffers.
20214 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20217 @item gnus-mouse-face
20218 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20219 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20220 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20224 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20228 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20229 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20230 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20232 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20233 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20234 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20236 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20237 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20238 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20240 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20241 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20242 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20244 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20245 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20246 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20248 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20249 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20250 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20261 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20262 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20263 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20264 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20265 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20269 @vindex gnus-carpal
20270 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20271 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20272 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20277 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20278 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20279 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20281 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20282 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20283 Face used on buttons.
20285 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20286 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20287 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20289 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20290 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20291 Buttons in the group buffer.
20293 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20294 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20295 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20297 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20298 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20299 Buttons in the server buffer.
20301 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20302 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20303 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20306 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20307 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20308 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20316 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20317 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20318 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20319 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20320 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20322 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20323 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20324 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20326 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20327 been idle for thirty minutes:
20330 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20333 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20337 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20340 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20341 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20342 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20344 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20345 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20346 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20347 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20349 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20350 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20351 @var{idle} minutes.
20353 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20354 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20357 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20358 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20359 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20361 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20362 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20363 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20364 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20366 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20367 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20369 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20371 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20374 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20375 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20376 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20377 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20378 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20379 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20380 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20381 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20382 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20383 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20384 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20386 @findex gnus-demon-init
20387 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20388 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20389 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20390 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20391 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20393 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20394 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20395 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20404 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20405 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20407 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20408 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20409 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20410 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20413 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20414 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20415 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20416 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20418 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20419 this will make spam disappear.
20421 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20424 @item gnus-use-nocem
20425 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20426 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20429 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20430 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20431 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20432 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20433 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20435 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20436 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20437 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20438 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20439 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20440 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20442 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20443 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20445 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20446 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20447 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20448 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20449 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20450 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20451 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20452 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20453 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20454 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20456 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20457 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20460 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20463 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20464 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20467 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20470 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20473 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20474 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20476 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20477 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20478 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20479 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20481 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20482 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20485 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20487 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20495 This might be dangerous, though.
20497 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20498 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20499 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20500 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20502 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20503 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20504 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20505 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20506 might then see old spam.
20508 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20509 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20510 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20511 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20512 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20515 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20516 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20517 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20518 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20522 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20523 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20524 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20525 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20532 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20533 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20534 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20536 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20537 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20538 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20539 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20540 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20541 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20542 @code{undo} function.
20544 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20545 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20546 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20547 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20548 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20549 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20550 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20551 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20552 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20553 never be totally undoable.
20555 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20556 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20558 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20559 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20560 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20561 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20565 @node Predicate Specifiers
20566 @section Predicate Specifiers
20567 @cindex predicate specifiers
20569 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20570 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20571 to type all that much.
20573 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20578 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20579 gnus-article-unread-p)
20582 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20583 functions all take one parameter.
20585 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20586 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20587 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20588 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20593 @section Moderation
20596 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20597 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20598 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20601 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20605 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20608 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20610 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20615 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20616 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20617 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20620 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20621 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20624 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20625 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20629 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20632 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20633 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20637 @node Image Enhancements
20638 @section Image Enhancements
20640 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20641 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20644 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20645 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20646 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20647 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20648 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20661 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20662 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20663 over your shoulder as you read news.
20666 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20667 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20668 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20669 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20670 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20675 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20677 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20686 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20687 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20688 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20689 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20690 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20691 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20692 @code{GIF} formats.
20695 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20696 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20697 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20698 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20699 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20701 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20702 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20703 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20704 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20705 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20706 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20708 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20709 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20712 @node Picon Requirements
20713 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20715 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20716 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20717 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20718 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20720 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20721 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20722 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20723 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20724 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20725 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20728 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20730 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20731 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20734 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20735 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20738 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20739 containing the Picons databases.
20741 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20744 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20745 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20750 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20758 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20759 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20760 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20761 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20762 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20767 @item gnus-picons-database
20768 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20769 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20770 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20771 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20772 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20773 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20775 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20776 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20777 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20778 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20779 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20780 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20781 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20783 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20784 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20785 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20786 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20787 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20788 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20789 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20790 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20792 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20793 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20794 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20799 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20800 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20802 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20803 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20806 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20808 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20809 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20810 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20811 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20813 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20814 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20815 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20816 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20822 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20823 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20831 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20832 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20833 don't need to worry about.
20837 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20838 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20839 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20840 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20842 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20843 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20844 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20845 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20847 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20848 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20849 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20850 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20851 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20853 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20854 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20855 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20856 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20857 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20858 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20859 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20860 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20862 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20863 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20864 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20865 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20866 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20868 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20869 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20870 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20871 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20872 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20873 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20874 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20876 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20877 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20878 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20879 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20881 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20882 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20883 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20884 Defaults to @code{t}.
20886 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20887 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20888 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20889 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20891 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20892 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20893 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20895 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20896 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20897 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20898 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20900 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20901 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20903 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20904 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20905 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20906 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20907 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20908 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20909 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20910 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20921 @subsection Smileys
20926 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20931 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20932 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20934 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20935 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20938 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20941 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20942 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20943 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20944 text and maps that to file names.
20946 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20947 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20948 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20949 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20950 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20951 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20953 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20954 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20956 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20957 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20958 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20960 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20961 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20965 @item smiley-data-directory
20966 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20967 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20969 @item smiley-flesh-color
20970 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20971 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20973 @item smiley-features-color
20974 @vindex smiley-features-color
20975 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20977 @item smiley-tongue-color
20978 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20979 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20981 @item smiley-circle-color
20982 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20983 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20985 @item smiley-mouse-face
20986 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20987 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20996 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20997 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20998 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21002 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21003 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
21004 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21005 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21013 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21014 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21015 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21016 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21018 The variable that controls this is the
21019 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21020 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21021 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21022 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21023 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21025 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21026 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21027 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21028 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21031 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21032 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21033 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21034 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21035 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21036 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21037 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21038 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21040 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21043 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21044 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21046 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21047 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21048 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21049 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21050 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21051 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21052 header data as a string.
21054 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21055 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21056 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21057 randomly generated data.
21059 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21060 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21061 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21062 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21064 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21065 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
21068 (setq message-required-news-headers
21069 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21070 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21073 Using the last function would be something like this:
21076 (setq message-required-news-headers
21077 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21078 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21079 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21080 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21085 @subsection Toolbar
21095 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21096 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21097 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21098 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21099 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21101 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21102 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21103 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21105 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21106 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21107 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21109 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21110 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21111 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21117 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21120 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21121 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21122 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21123 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21124 unusual directory structure.
21126 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21127 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21128 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21129 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21131 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21132 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21133 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21134 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21135 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21136 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21138 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21139 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21140 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21154 @node Fuzzy Matching
21155 @section Fuzzy Matching
21156 @cindex fuzzy matching
21158 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21159 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21161 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21162 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21163 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21165 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21166 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21167 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21168 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21169 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21172 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21173 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21177 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21179 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21180 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21181 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21182 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21183 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21184 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21185 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21186 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21189 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21190 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21191 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21192 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21193 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21194 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21196 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21199 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21200 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21201 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21202 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21203 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21204 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21207 @node The problem of spam
21208 @subsection The problem of spam
21210 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21211 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21213 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21215 First, some background on spam.
21217 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21218 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21219 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21220 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21221 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21222 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21223 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21224 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21226 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21227 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21228 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21229 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21230 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21231 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21232 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21233 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21234 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21237 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21238 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21239 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21240 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21241 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21242 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21243 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21244 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21245 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21246 mail can be useful.
21248 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21249 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21250 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21251 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21252 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21253 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21254 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21255 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21256 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21258 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21259 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21260 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21261 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21262 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21263 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21264 because of the incident.
21266 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21267 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21268 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21269 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21270 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21271 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21272 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21273 to store the database of spam analyses.
21275 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21276 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21280 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21282 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21283 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21285 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21286 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21287 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21288 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21289 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21290 part of the mail address.)
21293 (setq message-default-news-headers
21294 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21297 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21298 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21303 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21304 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21305 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21311 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21312 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21313 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21314 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21316 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21317 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21318 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21319 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21320 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21321 your fancy split rule in this way:
21326 (to "larsi" "misc")
21330 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21331 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21332 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21333 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21334 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21336 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21337 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21338 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21339 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21340 cosmic balance somewhat.
21342 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21343 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21344 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21345 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21350 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21351 @cindex SpamAssassin
21352 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21355 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21356 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21357 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21358 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21359 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21360 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21361 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21363 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21364 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21365 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21366 Specifiers}) follows.
21370 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21373 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21376 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21377 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21378 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21381 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21385 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21388 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21389 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21393 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21394 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21395 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21396 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21399 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21401 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21403 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21404 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21406 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21408 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21409 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21413 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21414 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21415 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21418 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21419 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21421 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21422 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21423 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21427 @subsection Hashcash
21430 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21431 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21432 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21433 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21434 in smaller communities.
21436 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21437 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21438 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21439 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21440 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21441 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21442 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21443 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21444 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21445 one of them separately.
21448 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21449 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21450 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21451 header. For more details, and for the external application
21452 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21453 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21454 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21456 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21460 (require 'hashcash)
21461 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21464 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21465 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21466 development contrib directory.
21468 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21472 @item hashcash-default-payment
21473 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21474 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21475 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21476 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21478 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21479 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21480 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21481 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21482 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21483 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21484 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21485 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21489 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21493 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21494 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21495 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21496 a useful contribution, however.
21498 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21499 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21500 @cindex spam filtering
21503 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21504 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21505 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21506 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21509 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21510 the following keyboard commands:
21520 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21521 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21523 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{H} mark.
21524 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21525 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21526 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21532 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21533 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21535 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21541 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21542 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21545 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21546 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21547 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21548 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21549 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21550 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21551 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21552 will be detected later.
21554 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21555 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21556 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21557 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21558 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21559 by customizing the corresponding variable
21560 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21561 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21562 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21563 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21564 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21565 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21566 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21569 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21570 they get the @samp{H} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21571 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{H} mark for
21572 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{H}
21573 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21574 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21575 spam-marked (@samp{H}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21576 will study them as spam samples.
21578 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21579 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21580 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21581 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21582 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21583 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21584 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21585 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21587 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21588 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21589 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21590 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21593 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21594 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21595 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21598 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21599 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21600 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21601 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21602 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21603 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{H},
21606 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21607 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21608 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21609 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21610 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21611 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21612 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21613 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21614 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21615 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21616 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21618 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21619 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21621 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21622 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21623 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21624 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21625 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21626 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21627 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21628 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21629 the spam articles are only expired.
21631 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21632 must add the following to your fancy split list
21633 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21639 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21640 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21641 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21643 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21644 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21645 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21646 but you can customize it.
21648 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21650 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21651 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21652 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21653 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21654 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21655 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21656 because it will slow IMAP down.
21658 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21660 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21661 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21662 longer spam or ham.}
21664 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21665 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21668 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21669 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21672 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21673 * BBDB Whitelists::
21676 * ifile spam filtering::
21677 * spam-stat spam filtering::
21678 * Extending the spam elisp package::
21681 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21682 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21683 @cindex spam filtering
21684 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21685 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21688 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21689 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
21690 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
21691 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
21692 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
21696 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21697 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
21698 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
21699 whitelist will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an
21700 implicit filter, meaning it believes everyone to be a spammer unless
21701 told otherwise. Use with care.
21704 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
21705 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21706 customizing the group parameters or the
21707 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21708 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21709 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
21712 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
21713 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21714 customizing the group parameters or the
21715 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21716 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21717 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21718 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21719 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21722 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21723 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21724 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21725 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
21726 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21728 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21729 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21730 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21731 whitelists is very comprehensive or permissive. Also see @ref{BBDB
21732 Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21735 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
21736 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
21737 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
21738 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
21739 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21740 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21742 @node BBDB Whitelists
21743 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21744 @cindex spam filtering
21745 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21746 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21749 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
21751 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21752 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21753 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21754 @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21755 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21759 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
21760 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21761 customizing the group parameters or the
21762 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21763 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21764 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21765 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21766 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21770 @subsubsection Blackholes
21771 @cindex spam filtering
21772 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21775 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21777 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21778 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21779 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21780 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21781 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21782 contains outdated servers.
21784 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21785 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21786 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21787 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21788 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21789 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21793 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
21795 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
21799 @defvar spam-use-dig
21801 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
21802 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
21806 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
21807 ham processor for blackholes.
21810 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21811 @cindex spam filtering
21812 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21815 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21817 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21820 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{H} mark for spam
21821 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21822 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21823 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
21824 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
21825 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
21827 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
21828 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
21831 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
21832 processing will be turned off.
21834 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
21838 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
21840 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21841 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
21842 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
21843 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
21844 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
21845 installation documents for details.
21847 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
21851 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
21852 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21853 customizing the group parameters or the
21854 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21855 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
21856 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
21859 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
21860 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21861 customizing the group parameters or the
21862 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21863 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21864 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
21865 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21866 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21869 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
21871 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
21872 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
21873 database directory.
21877 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
21878 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21879 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
21880 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
21881 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
21882 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
21884 @node ifile spam filtering
21885 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
21886 @cindex spam filtering
21887 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21890 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21892 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
21893 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
21897 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
21899 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
21900 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
21901 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
21905 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
21907 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
21908 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
21909 the default value of @samp{spam}.
21912 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
21914 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
21915 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
21919 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
21920 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21921 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
21922 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
21925 @node spam-stat spam filtering
21926 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
21927 @cindex spam filtering
21928 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
21932 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
21934 @defvar spam-use-stat
21936 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
21937 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
21941 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
21942 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21943 customizing the group parameters or the
21944 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21945 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
21946 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
21949 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
21950 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21951 customizing the group parameters or the
21952 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21953 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21954 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
21955 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21956 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21959 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
21960 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
21961 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
21962 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
21965 @node Extending the spam elisp package
21966 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
21967 @cindex spam filtering
21968 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
21969 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
21971 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
21972 incoming mail, provide the following:
21980 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21981 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21986 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21988 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21993 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21994 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21995 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21998 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
22005 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
22006 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22009 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22010 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22011 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22013 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22014 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22015 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22023 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22024 (spam-generic-register-routine
22025 ;; the spam function
22027 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22028 (when (stringp from)
22029 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22030 ;; the ham function
22033 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22034 (spam-generic-register-routine
22035 ;; the spam function
22037 ;; the ham function
22039 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22040 (when (stringp from)
22041 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22044 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22045 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22046 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22047 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22048 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22049 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22054 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22055 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22056 @cindex Paul Graham
22057 @cindex Graham, Paul
22058 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22059 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22060 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22062 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22063 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22064 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22065 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22066 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22067 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22068 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22069 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22070 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22073 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22074 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22075 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22076 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22077 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22078 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22079 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22080 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22082 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22083 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22084 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22085 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22086 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22089 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22090 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22091 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22094 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22095 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22097 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22098 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22099 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22100 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22101 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22103 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22104 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22105 per mail. Use the following:
22107 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22108 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22109 is treated as one spam mail.
22112 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22113 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22114 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22117 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22118 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22119 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22120 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22121 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22122 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22124 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22125 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22126 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22127 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22128 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22131 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22132 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22133 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22134 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22137 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22138 reset the dictionary.
22140 @defun spam-stat-reset
22141 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22144 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22145 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22146 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22147 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22148 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22149 only non-spam mails.
22151 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22152 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22153 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22156 @defun spam-stat-save
22157 Save the dictionary.
22160 @defvar spam-stat-file
22161 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22162 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22165 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22166 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22168 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22169 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22172 (require 'spam-stat)
22176 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22179 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22180 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22181 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22182 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22184 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22185 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22186 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22187 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22190 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22191 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22195 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22196 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22199 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22200 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22201 expression are considered potential spam.
22204 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22205 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22206 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22210 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22211 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22212 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22213 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22214 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22217 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22218 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22219 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22223 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22224 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22225 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22226 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22227 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22231 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22232 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22233 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22234 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22239 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22240 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22242 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22244 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22245 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22246 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22249 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22250 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22251 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22254 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22255 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22256 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22257 already been processed as non-spam.
22260 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22261 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22262 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22263 been processed as spam.
22266 @defun spam-stat-save
22267 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22268 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22271 @defun spam-stat-load
22272 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22273 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22276 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22277 Return the spam score for a word.
22280 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22281 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22284 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22285 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22286 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22289 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22290 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22293 (require 'spam-stat)
22297 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22300 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22301 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22302 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22303 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22304 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22305 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22306 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22307 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22308 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22309 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22310 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22311 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22312 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22313 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22316 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22319 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22320 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22321 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22322 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22323 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22324 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22327 @node Various Various
22328 @section Various Various
22334 @item gnus-home-directory
22335 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22336 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22338 @item gnus-directory
22339 @vindex gnus-directory
22340 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22341 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22342 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22344 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22345 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22346 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22347 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22349 @item gnus-default-directory
22350 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22351 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22352 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22353 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22354 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22355 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22356 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22359 @vindex gnus-verbose
22360 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22361 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22362 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22363 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22364 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22366 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22367 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22368 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22369 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22371 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22372 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22373 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22374 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22375 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22376 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22377 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22378 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22379 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22380 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22382 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22383 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22384 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22385 read when doing the operation described above.
22387 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22388 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22390 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22391 @cindex characters in file names
22392 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22393 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22394 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22397 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22401 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22402 Windows (phooey) systems.
22404 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22405 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22406 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22407 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22408 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22410 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22411 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22412 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22413 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22414 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22416 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22417 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22418 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22420 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22421 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22423 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22424 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22425 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22426 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22429 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22437 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22438 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22440 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22442 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22448 Not because of victories @*
22451 but for the common sunshine,@*
22453 the largess of the spring.
22457 but for the day's work done@*
22458 as well as I was able;@*
22459 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22460 but at the common table.@*
22465 @chapter Appendices
22468 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22469 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22470 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22471 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22472 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22473 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22474 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22475 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22476 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22483 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22485 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22486 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22487 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22488 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22489 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22490 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22497 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22498 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22500 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22501 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22502 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22503 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22504 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22506 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22507 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22508 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22509 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22510 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22511 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22513 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22514 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22515 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22516 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22519 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22520 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22521 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22522 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22523 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22524 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22525 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22526 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22527 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22531 @node Gnus Versions
22532 @subsection Gnus Versions
22534 @cindex September Gnus
22536 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22537 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22541 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22542 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22543 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22545 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22546 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22548 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22549 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22551 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22552 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22554 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22555 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22558 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22560 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22561 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22562 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22563 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22564 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22565 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22568 @node Other Gnus Versions
22569 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22572 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22573 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22574 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22575 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22577 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22578 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22579 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22580 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22587 What's the point of Gnus?
22589 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22590 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22591 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22592 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22593 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22594 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22595 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22596 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22597 keep track of millions of people who post?
22599 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22600 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22601 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22602 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22603 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22604 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22605 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22606 every one of you to explore and invent.
22608 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22609 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22612 @node Compatibility
22613 @subsection Compatibility
22615 @cindex compatibility
22616 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22617 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22618 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22623 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22627 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22630 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22633 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22634 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22635 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22636 important variables have their values copied into their global
22637 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22638 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22640 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22641 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22642 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22643 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22644 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22648 @cindex highlighting
22649 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22650 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22651 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22652 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22653 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22654 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22657 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22658 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22659 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22660 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22662 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22663 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22664 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22665 to stop doing it the old way.
22667 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22669 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22671 @cindex reporting bugs
22673 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22674 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22675 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22677 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22678 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22679 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22680 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22685 @subsection Conformity
22687 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22688 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22696 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22700 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22702 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22703 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22704 We do have some breaches to this one.
22710 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22711 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22712 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22713 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22714 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22719 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22720 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22721 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22722 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22724 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22726 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22728 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22729 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22731 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22734 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22735 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22736 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22737 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22738 decoding (verification and decryption).
22740 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22741 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22742 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22743 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22745 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22746 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22748 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22749 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22750 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22751 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22752 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22753 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22754 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22758 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22759 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22764 @subsection Emacsen
22770 Gnus should work on :
22778 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
22782 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22783 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22784 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
22785 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
22786 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
22788 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22789 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22790 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22794 @node Gnus Development
22795 @subsection Gnus Development
22797 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22798 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22799 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22800 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22801 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22802 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22803 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22804 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22806 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22807 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22808 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22809 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22810 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22813 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22814 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22815 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22816 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22817 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22819 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22820 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22821 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22822 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22823 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22824 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22825 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22826 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22827 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22828 can't be assumed to do so.
22833 @subsection Contributors
22834 @cindex contributors
22836 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22837 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22838 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22839 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22840 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22841 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22842 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22843 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22844 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22845 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22847 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22853 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22856 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22857 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22858 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22859 functionality and stuff.
22862 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22863 well as numerous other things).
22866 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22869 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22872 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22875 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22878 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22879 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22882 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22885 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22886 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22889 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22892 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22895 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22898 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22901 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22902 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22905 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22908 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22911 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22914 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22918 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22921 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22924 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22927 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22928 well as autoconf support.
22932 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22933 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22935 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22944 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22948 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22958 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22973 Massimo Campostrini,
22978 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22979 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22983 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22986 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22992 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22997 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
23001 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23009 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23011 Michelangelo Grigni,
23015 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23017 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
23019 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23026 François Felix Ingrand,
23027 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23028 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23030 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23041 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23042 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23044 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23045 Thor Kristoffersen,
23048 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23066 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23067 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23074 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23079 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23083 John McClary Prevost,
23089 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23094 Christian von Roques,
23097 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23104 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23106 Randal L. Schwartz,
23120 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23125 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23141 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23146 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23147 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23148 (550kB and counting).
23150 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23153 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23154 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23158 @subsection New Features
23159 @cindex new features
23162 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23163 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23164 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23165 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23166 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23169 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23170 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23171 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23174 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23176 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23181 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23182 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23185 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23186 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23189 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23192 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23193 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23194 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23197 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23198 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23199 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23200 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23203 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23204 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23207 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23208 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23209 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23212 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23213 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23216 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23217 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23218 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23221 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23222 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23223 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23226 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23227 the @file{.emacs} file.
23230 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23231 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23234 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23235 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23238 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23239 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23242 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23243 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23246 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23247 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23250 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23253 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23254 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23257 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23258 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23261 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23262 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23265 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23268 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23269 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23272 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23276 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23280 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23281 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23284 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23290 @node September Gnus
23291 @subsubsection September Gnus
23295 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23299 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23304 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23305 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23309 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23310 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23314 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23318 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23319 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23322 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23326 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23329 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23332 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23335 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23339 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23340 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23343 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23347 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23351 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23355 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23359 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23362 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23363 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23366 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23370 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23371 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23374 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23377 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23378 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23379 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23382 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23386 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23389 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23393 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23394 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23397 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23398 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23401 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23402 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23405 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23406 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23407 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23410 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23411 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23414 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23417 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23420 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23423 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23426 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23427 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23430 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23434 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23437 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23442 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23445 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23449 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23452 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23456 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23459 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23462 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23463 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23466 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23467 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23471 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23472 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23475 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23479 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23480 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23483 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23486 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23490 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23494 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23495 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23498 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23502 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23503 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23506 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23507 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23510 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23514 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23517 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23520 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23526 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23528 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23532 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23539 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23542 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23543 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23546 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23547 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23551 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23552 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23555 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23558 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23559 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23562 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23566 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23567 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23571 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23572 Server Internals}).
23575 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23579 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23582 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23583 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23586 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23587 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23588 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23591 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23592 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23595 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23596 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23599 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23603 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23604 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23607 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23608 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23611 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23615 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23618 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23622 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23623 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23626 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23627 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23630 A new command for reading collections of documents
23631 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23632 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23635 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23639 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23640 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23643 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23644 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23645 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23648 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23649 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23653 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23657 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23661 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23666 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23670 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23674 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23675 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23678 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23684 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23686 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23691 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23692 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23693 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23696 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23697 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23698 group, which is created automatically.
23701 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23705 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23708 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23709 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23712 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23716 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23719 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23720 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23723 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23726 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23727 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23730 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23731 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23734 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23735 control over simplification.
23738 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23741 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23745 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23748 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23751 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23752 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23753 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23756 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23757 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23760 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23764 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23765 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23768 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23769 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23772 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23776 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23779 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23782 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23783 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23786 A new function for citing in Message has been
23787 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23790 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23793 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23797 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23798 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23801 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23802 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23805 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23808 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23812 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23813 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23815 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23820 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23821 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23823 If you used procmail like in
23826 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23827 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23828 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23829 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23832 this now has changed to
23836 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23840 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23841 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23844 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23845 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23848 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23849 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23852 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23853 called to position point.
23856 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23857 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23860 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23861 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23864 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23865 subtly different manner.
23868 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23869 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23870 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23873 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23881 @section The Manual
23885 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23886 either @code{texi2dvi}
23888 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23889 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23891 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23893 The following conventions have been used:
23898 This is a @samp{string}
23901 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23904 This is a @file{file}
23907 This is a @code{symbol}
23911 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23915 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23918 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23921 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23924 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23925 ever get them confused.
23929 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23930 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23931 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23932 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23933 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23934 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23935 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23941 @node On Writing Manuals
23942 @section On Writing Manuals
23944 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23945 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23946 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23947 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23948 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23949 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23952 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23953 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23954 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23957 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23958 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23963 @section Terminology
23965 @cindex terminology
23970 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23971 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23972 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23973 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23974 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23978 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23979 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23980 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23981 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23985 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23989 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23994 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23995 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23996 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23997 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23998 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23999 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
24000 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
24001 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
24002 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
24004 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
24005 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
24006 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
24007 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
24008 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24011 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24012 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24013 access the articles.
24015 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24016 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24017 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24022 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24023 default, way of getting news.
24027 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24028 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24033 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24034 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24038 A message that has been posted as news.
24041 @cindex mail message
24042 A message that has been mailed.
24046 A mail message or news article
24050 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24055 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24060 A line from the head of an article.
24064 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24065 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24069 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24070 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24071 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24072 normal @sc{head} format.
24076 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24077 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24078 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24079 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24080 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24081 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24083 @item killed groups
24084 @cindex killed groups
24085 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24086 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24088 @item zombie groups
24089 @cindex zombie groups
24090 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24093 @cindex active file
24094 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24095 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24096 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24099 @cindex bogus groups
24100 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24101 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24102 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24105 @cindex activating groups
24106 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24107 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24108 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24112 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24114 @item select method
24115 @cindex select method
24116 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24119 @item virtual server
24120 @cindex virtual server
24121 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24122 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24123 whole is a virtual server.
24127 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24128 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24131 @item ephemeral groups
24132 @cindex ephemeral groups
24133 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24134 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24135 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24138 @cindex solid groups
24139 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24140 group buffer are solid groups.
24142 @item sparse articles
24143 @cindex sparse articles
24144 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24145 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24149 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24150 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24154 @cindex thread root
24155 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24156 articles in the thread.
24160 An article that has responses.
24164 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24168 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24169 specified by RFC 1153.
24175 @node Customization
24176 @section Customization
24177 @cindex general customization
24179 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24180 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24181 for some quite common situations.
24184 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24185 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24186 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24187 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24191 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24192 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24194 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24195 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24196 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24200 @item gnus-read-active-file
24201 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24202 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24203 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24204 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24205 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24207 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24208 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24209 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24210 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24214 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24215 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24217 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24218 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24219 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24223 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24224 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24225 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24226 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24227 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24229 @item gnus-visible-headers
24230 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24231 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24232 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24233 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24235 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24237 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24238 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24239 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24242 @item gnus-use-full-window
24243 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24244 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24245 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24246 want to read them anyway.
24248 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24249 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24253 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24254 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24255 lines, which might save some time.
24259 @node Little Disk Space
24260 @subsection Little Disk Space
24263 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24264 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24268 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24269 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24270 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24271 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24274 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24275 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24276 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24277 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24280 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24281 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24282 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24283 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24284 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24290 @subsection Slow Machine
24291 @cindex slow machine
24293 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24294 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24296 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24297 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24299 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24300 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24301 summary buffer faster.
24305 @node Troubleshooting
24306 @section Troubleshooting
24307 @cindex troubleshooting
24309 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24317 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24320 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24321 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24325 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24326 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24327 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24328 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24329 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24332 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24336 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24337 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24338 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24339 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24340 something like that.
24343 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24346 @cindex reporting bugs
24348 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24350 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24351 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24352 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24353 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24355 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24356 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24357 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24358 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24361 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24362 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24363 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24364 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24365 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24366 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24368 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24369 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24370 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24374 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24375 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24378 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24379 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24380 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24381 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24382 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24383 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24384 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24385 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24386 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24387 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24388 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24389 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24390 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24391 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24396 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24397 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24398 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press C-j when things are
24399 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24400 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24401 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24402 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24403 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24404 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24405 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-packagre RET message}. Then perform
24406 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24407 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24408 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24409 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24410 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24411 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24412 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24413 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24415 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24416 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24418 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24419 @cindex ding mailing list
24420 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
24421 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24425 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24426 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24428 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24429 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24430 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24431 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24434 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24435 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24436 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24437 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24438 and general methods of operation.
24441 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24442 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24443 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24444 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24445 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24446 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24447 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24448 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24449 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24453 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24454 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24455 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24456 @cindex utility functions
24458 @cindex internal variables
24460 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24461 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24462 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24466 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24467 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24468 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24470 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24471 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24472 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24474 @item gnus-group-real-name
24475 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24476 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24479 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24480 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24481 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24482 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24484 @item gnus-get-info
24485 @findex gnus-get-info
24486 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24488 @item gnus-group-unread
24489 @findex gnus-group-unread
24490 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24494 @findex gnus-active
24495 The active entry for @var{group}.
24497 @item gnus-set-active
24498 @findex gnus-set-active
24499 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24501 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24502 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24503 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24506 @item gnus-continuum-version
24507 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24508 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24509 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24512 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24513 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24514 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24516 @item gnus-news-group-p
24517 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24518 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24520 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24521 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24522 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24524 @item gnus-server-to-method
24525 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24526 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24528 @item gnus-server-equal
24529 @findex gnus-server-equal
24530 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24532 @item gnus-group-native-p
24533 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24534 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24536 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24537 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24538 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24540 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24541 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24542 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24544 @item group-group-find-parameter
24545 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24546 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24547 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24549 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24550 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24551 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24553 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24554 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24555 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24557 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24558 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24559 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24560 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24563 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24567 @item gnus-read-method
24568 @findex gnus-read-method
24569 Prompts the user for a select method.
24574 @node Back End Interface
24575 @subsection Back End Interface
24577 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24578 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24579 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24580 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24581 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24582 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24584 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24585 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24586 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24587 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24588 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24589 been opened, the function should fail.
24591 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24592 name. Take this example:
24596 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24597 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24600 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24601 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24603 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24604 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24605 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24607 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24608 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24609 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24611 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24612 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24613 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24614 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24615 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24616 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24619 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24620 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24621 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24622 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24625 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24626 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24627 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24628 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24629 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24630 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24631 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24632 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24633 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24634 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24636 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24637 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24638 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24639 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24640 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24641 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24642 of numbers as long as possible.
24644 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24645 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24646 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24648 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24651 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24654 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24655 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24656 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24657 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24658 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24659 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24663 @node Required Back End Functions
24664 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24668 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24670 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24671 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24672 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24673 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24675 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24676 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24677 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24678 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24680 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24681 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24682 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24683 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24684 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24685 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24686 number, do maximum fetches.
24688 Here's an example HEAD:
24691 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24692 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24693 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24694 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24695 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24696 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24697 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24699 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24700 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24701 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24705 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24706 these in the data buffer.
24708 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24712 head = error / valid-head
24713 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24714 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24715 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24716 header = <text> eol
24719 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24720 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24724 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24725 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24726 field = <text except TAB>
24729 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24733 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24735 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24736 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24738 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24739 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24740 server. In fact, it should do so.
24742 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24743 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24746 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24748 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24749 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24752 There should be no data returned.
24755 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24757 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24758 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24759 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24760 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24762 There should be no data returned.
24765 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24767 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24768 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24769 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24770 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24772 There should be no data returned.
24775 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24777 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24779 There should be no data returned.
24782 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24784 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24785 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24786 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24787 it would be nice if that were possible.
24789 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24790 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24791 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24792 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24793 into its article buffer.
24795 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24796 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24797 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24798 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24799 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24800 on successful article retrieval.
24803 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24805 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24806 making @var{group} the current group.
24808 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24811 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24814 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24817 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24818 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24819 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24820 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24821 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24822 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24823 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24824 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24825 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24829 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24830 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24831 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24835 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24837 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24838 a no-op on most back ends.
24840 There should be no data returned.
24843 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24845 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24848 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24851 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24852 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24855 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24856 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24857 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24858 and the highest as 0.
24861 active-file = *active-line
24862 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24864 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24867 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24868 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24869 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24872 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24874 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24875 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24876 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24877 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24878 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24879 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24881 There should be no result data from this function.
24886 @node Optional Back End Functions
24887 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24891 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24893 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24894 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24895 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24897 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24898 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24899 former is in the same format as the data from
24900 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24901 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24904 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24908 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24910 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24911 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24912 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24913 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24914 should return a non-nil value.
24916 There should be no result data from this function.
24919 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24921 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24922 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24923 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24924 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24925 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24926 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24927 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24928 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24930 There should be no result data from this function.
24933 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24935 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24936 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24937 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24938 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24939 propagate the mark information to the server.
24941 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24944 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24947 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
24948 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
24949 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
24950 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
24951 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24952 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24953 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24954 possible, not limit itself to these.
24956 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24957 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24958 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24959 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24961 An example action list:
24964 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24965 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24966 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24969 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24970 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24972 There should be no result data from this function.
24974 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24976 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24977 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24978 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24979 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24980 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24982 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24983 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24984 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24987 There should be no result data from this function.
24990 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24992 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24993 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24994 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24995 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24996 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24997 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24998 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
25000 There should be no result data from this function.
25003 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
25005 The result data from this function should be a description of
25009 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25011 description = <text>
25014 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25016 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25017 groups available on the server.
25020 description-buffer = *description-line
25024 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25026 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25027 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25028 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25029 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25030 in the active buffer format.
25032 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25033 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25034 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25035 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25036 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25037 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25038 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25041 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25043 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25045 There should be no return data.
25048 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25050 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25051 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25052 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25053 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25054 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25057 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25060 There should be no result data returned.
25063 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
25066 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25067 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25069 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25070 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25071 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25072 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25073 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25074 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25076 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25077 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25080 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25081 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25083 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25084 article for that group.
25086 There should be no data returned.
25089 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25091 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25092 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25093 this function in short order.
25095 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25096 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25098 There should be no data returned.
25101 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25103 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25104 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25106 There should be no data returned.
25109 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25111 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25112 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25113 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25115 There should be no data returned.
25118 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25120 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25121 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25123 There should be no data returned.
25128 @node Error Messaging
25129 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25131 @findex nnheader-report
25132 @findex nnheader-get-report
25133 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25134 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25135 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25136 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25137 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25138 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25141 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25143 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25146 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25147 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25148 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25149 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25151 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25152 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25153 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25156 @node Writing New Back Ends
25157 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25159 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25160 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25161 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25162 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25163 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25166 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25167 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25168 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25170 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25171 package called @code{nnoo}.
25173 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25174 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25180 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25181 parameters. For instance:
25184 (nnoo-declare nndir
25188 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25189 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25192 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25193 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25194 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25196 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25197 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25198 a function in those back ends.
25201 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25202 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25203 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25206 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25207 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25208 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25210 @item nnoo-define-basics
25211 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25215 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25219 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25220 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25221 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25223 @item nnoo-map-functions
25224 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25225 functions from the parent back ends.
25228 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25229 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25230 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25233 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25234 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25235 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25236 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25239 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25240 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25241 haven't already been defined.
25247 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25251 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25252 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25253 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25258 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25261 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25262 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25266 (require 'nnheader)
25270 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25272 (nnoo-declare nndir
25275 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25276 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25277 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25279 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25280 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25283 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25285 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25286 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25287 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25289 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25290 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25292 ;;; Interface functions.
25294 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25296 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25297 (setq nndir-directory
25298 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25300 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25301 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25302 (push `(nndir-current-group
25303 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25304 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25306 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25307 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25309 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25311 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25312 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25313 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25314 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25315 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25319 nnmh-status-message
25321 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25327 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25328 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25330 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25331 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25332 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25333 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25334 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25336 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25337 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25342 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25345 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25347 The abilities can be:
25351 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25353 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25355 This back end supports both mail and news.
25357 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25360 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25361 articles and groups.
25363 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25364 true for almost all back ends.
25365 @item prompt-address
25366 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25367 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25368 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25372 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25373 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25375 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25376 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25377 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25378 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25381 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25382 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25383 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25386 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25387 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25390 This function takes four parameters.
25394 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25397 @item exit-function
25398 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25400 @item temp-directory
25401 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25404 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25405 performed for one group only.
25408 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25409 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25410 find the article number assigned to this article.
25412 The function also uses the following variables:
25413 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25414 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25415 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25416 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25420 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25421 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25425 @node Score File Syntax
25426 @subsection Score File Syntax
25428 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25429 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25430 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25432 Here's a typical score file:
25436 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25443 BNF definition of a score file:
25446 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25447 element = rule / atom
25448 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25449 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25450 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25451 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25453 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25454 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25455 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25456 date-header = "date"
25457 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25458 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25459 score = "nil" / <integer>
25460 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25461 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25462 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25463 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25464 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25465 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25466 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25467 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25468 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25469 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25470 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25471 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25472 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25473 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25474 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25475 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25476 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25477 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25478 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25479 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25480 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25481 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25482 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25483 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25484 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25485 eval = "eval" space <form>
25486 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25489 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25492 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25493 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25494 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25495 one looong line, then that's ok.
25497 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25498 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25502 @subsection Headers
25504 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25505 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25506 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25507 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25509 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25510 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25511 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25512 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25513 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25514 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25515 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25517 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25518 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25519 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25520 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25521 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25523 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25524 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25530 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25531 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25533 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25534 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25535 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25536 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25538 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25542 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25545 is transformed into
25548 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25551 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25552 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25555 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25558 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25559 is slightly tricky:
25562 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25568 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25571 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25577 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25584 and is equal to the previous range.
25586 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25587 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25588 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25592 range = simple-range / normal-range
25593 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25594 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25595 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25596 number *[ " " contents ]
25599 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25600 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25601 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25602 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25603 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25608 @subsection Group Info
25610 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25611 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25612 describes the group.
25614 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25615 second is a more complex one:
25618 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25620 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25621 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25623 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25626 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25627 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25628 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25629 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25630 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25631 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25632 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25633 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25634 this section is about.
25636 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25637 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25638 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25640 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25643 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25644 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25645 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25646 group = quote <string> quote
25647 ralevel = rank / level
25648 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25649 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25650 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25652 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25653 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25654 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25655 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25658 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25659 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25662 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25663 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25666 @item gnus-info-group
25667 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25668 @findex gnus-info-group
25669 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25670 Get/set the group name.
25672 @item gnus-info-rank
25673 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25674 @findex gnus-info-rank
25675 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25676 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25678 @item gnus-info-level
25679 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25680 @findex gnus-info-level
25681 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25682 Get/set the group level.
25684 @item gnus-info-score
25685 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25686 @findex gnus-info-score
25687 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25688 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25690 @item gnus-info-read
25691 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25692 @findex gnus-info-read
25693 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25694 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25696 @item gnus-info-marks
25697 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25698 @findex gnus-info-marks
25699 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25700 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25702 @item gnus-info-method
25703 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25704 @findex gnus-info-method
25705 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25706 Get/set the group select method.
25708 @item gnus-info-params
25709 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25710 @findex gnus-info-params
25711 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25712 Get/set the group parameters.
25715 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25716 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25718 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25719 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25720 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25721 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25724 @node Extended Interactive
25725 @subsection Extended Interactive
25726 @cindex interactive
25727 @findex gnus-interactive
25729 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25730 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25731 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25734 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25735 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25740 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25741 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25742 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25743 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25744 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25745 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25746 @code{interactive}.
25748 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25753 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25754 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25758 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25759 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25760 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25763 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25767 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25771 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25777 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25778 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25782 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25783 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25784 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25786 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25787 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25788 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25789 Gnus, that's very useful.
25791 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25792 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25793 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25794 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25795 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25796 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25797 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25798 following function:
25801 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25805 (,function ,@@args))
25809 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25810 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25811 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25814 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25815 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25816 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25818 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25819 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25820 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25823 @node Various File Formats
25824 @subsection Various File Formats
25827 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25828 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25832 @node Active File Format
25833 @subsubsection Active File Format
25835 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25836 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25839 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25842 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25843 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25844 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25845 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25846 no.general 1000 900 y
25849 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25852 active = *group-line
25853 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25854 group = <non-white-space string>
25856 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25857 low-number = <positive integer>
25858 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25861 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25862 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25865 @node Newsgroups File Format
25866 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25868 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25869 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25870 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25873 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25874 Here's the definition:
25878 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25879 group = <non-white-space string>
25881 description = <string>
25886 @node Emacs for Heathens
25887 @section Emacs for Heathens
25889 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25890 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25891 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25892 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25893 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25894 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25895 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25899 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25900 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25905 @subsection Keystrokes
25909 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25912 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25915 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25916 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25917 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25918 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25919 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25920 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25922 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25923 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25924 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25925 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25926 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25927 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25928 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25930 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25931 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25932 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25933 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25934 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25935 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25936 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25938 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25939 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25940 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25941 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25942 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25948 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25950 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25951 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25952 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25953 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25955 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25956 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25957 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25958 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25959 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25960 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25961 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25964 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25965 write the following:
25968 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25971 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25972 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25973 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25976 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
25977 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25978 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25979 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25980 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25982 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25983 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25984 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25988 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25992 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25995 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25996 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25999 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
26002 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
26003 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
26006 @include gnus-faq.texi
26026 @c Local Variables:
26028 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26030 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26031 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26032 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26033 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26034 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref